The Kentucky Cycle by Robert Schenkkan
"The Kentucky Cycle," written by Robert Schenkkan, is a compelling series of nine interconnected short plays that span over two centuries, chronicling the complex history of three fictional families in southeastern Kentucky. The work is divided into two parts: the first consists of five plays that begin in the late 18th century and conclude just before the Civil War, while the second part focuses on the coal-mining era, illustrating the socio-economic struggles of the 20th century. The narrative highlights themes of land ownership, violence, and revenge, beginning with the violent acquisition of land by settlers and transitioning into the exploitation of labor in coal mining.
The cycle explores the cyclical nature of conflict and retribution, showcasing a landscape marred by historical grievances and environmental degradation. Schenkkan's use of epic theater techniques, including minimal staging and a chorus, invites audiences to engage critically with the material rather than simply becoming immersed in a narrative. While the plays were met with both acclaim and criticism, particularly regarding their portrayal of Appalachian life, many appreciate the work for its environmental message and its broader commentary on societal issues. "The Kentucky Cycle" serves not only as a historical reflection but also as a cautionary tale about the consequences of unchecked exploitation and the resilience of nature.
The Kentucky Cycle by Robert Schenkkan
First published: 1993
First produced: 1991, at the Intiman Theatre, Seattle, Washington
Type of plot: Epic theater; family
Time of work: 1775-1975
Locale: Southeastern Kentucky
Principal Characters:
Michael Rowen , former Irish indentured servantMorning Star , his Cherokee wifePatrick Rowen , their sonSallie Biggs , their African American slaveJoe Talbert , their neighborRebecca Talbert , Joe’s daughter and Patrick’s wifeJeremiah Talbert , Joe’s sonEzekiel Rowen , Patrick’s sonRichard Talbert , Jeremiah’s sonJed Rowen , Ezekiel’s sonJames Talbert Winston , owner of Blue Star Mining CompanyFranklin Biggs , owner of Biggs and Son Liquor
The Play
The Kentucky Cycle, as its title suggests, is actually a series of nine short plays dramatizing the interrelated history of three fictional southeastern Kentucky families over two hundred years. The plays are grouped in two parts that may be performed in all-day sessions (with lunch or dinner breaks) or on consecutive evenings. Part 1 consists of five short plays (with their times) titled “Masters of the Trade” (1775), “The Courtship of Morning Star” (1776), “The Homecoming” (1792), “Ties That Bind” (1819), and “God’s Great Supper” (1861). Part Two consists of the four short plays titled “Tall Tales” (1885), “Fire in the Hole” (1920), “Which Side Are You On?” (1954), and “The War on Poverty” (1975).
The Kentucky Cycle begins when Kentucky is “a dark and bloody ground,” a beautiful but uninhabited hunting ground and battleground for several American Indian tribes who do not believe the land can be owned. This American Indian belief looms like an ominous curse over the rest of the cycle, as whites claim, inhabit, and despoil the land. The belief literally fits the first three plays in which former Irish indentured servant Michael Rowen (who killed his Georgia master) viciously kills his way to ownership of some Kentucky land, subdues a surviving Cherokee maiden as his mate, and in turn is viciously killed by their son, Patrick. Patrick also kills the neighbor Joe Talbert, takes Talbert’s daughter Rebecca as his bride, and consolidates their land.
These events precipitate a family feud that lasts for generations. In the fourth play, “Ties That Bind,” Jeremiah Talbert, Joe’s son, uses land speculation to get revenge: He buys up Patrick Rowen’s bank loans, forecloses on Patrick’s land and property (including the slave family, the Biggses), and reduces Patrick and his sons to tenant farmers. Jeremiah builds a big house on the hill from which he can watch over and enjoy his domain, including his slaves and the Rowens.
However, in the next generation and the fifth play, “God’s Great Supper,” the Rowens get their revenge and take back the land. In the Civil War, Richard Talbert, Jeremiah’s son, leads a contingent of Confederates, including Jed Rowen (Patrick’s grandson), who in the confusion of battle pushes Richard into the Cumberland River, where he drowns. Jed then returns home and, with his father, the preacher Ezekiel Rowen, leads an attack of biblical ferocity on the Talberts: The Rowens massacre the Talberts and their slaves (except for two Talbert daughters and the Biggs family), burn the big house and barns, poison the well, and plow salt into the nearby fields.
Part 2 of The Kentucky Cycle takes the story into the coal-mining era, where the massive destruction of the land and its people makes poisoned wells and salted fields seem insignificant. In “Tall Tales” the Rowens sell the mineral rights to their land to a shyster posing as an Appalachian storyteller (the “broad-form” deeds in such transactions also allowed free access to the minerals, without regard for surface owners’ rights). In “Fire in the Hole,” coal mining is in full swing, with the land deforested, coal waste dumped everywhere, and the people working for the coal company, living in a squalid company camp, and being paid in company scrip. However, the deplorable conditions lead to union organizing and, after more bloodshed, the union’s triumph. In these struggles, the Rowens generally represent the union and the Talberts (now Winstons), the management.
“Which Side Are You On?” shows the brief period of union power waning, with large layoffs occurring as demand for coal drops and new mining methods (stripping the land with huge machines) are employed. The climax takes place when owner James Talbert Winston’s economizing on safety measures causes an enormous dust explosion at the Blue Star Mine, with much loss of life, including that of Scotty Rowen, son of the union’s district president, Joshua Rowen. “The War on Poverty” shows the aftermath, with Joshua Rowen, James Talbert Winston, and Franklin Biggs (owner of the only prospering local business, a liquor store) standing on the devastated land and quarreling about whether to sell it for strip mining.
Dramatic Devices
The Kentucky Cycle poses tremendous challenges for producing and performing. Besides its epic length, numerous characters, and changes of scene, it has speeches in Cherokee, violent acts difficult to act convincingly, battles, a drowning in a river, a train spewing machine-gun fire, and explosions. The original production solved some of these problems in the style of Shakespearean theater. The stage, a large, bare oval shape with an earthen pit in the center, suggested various settings with the help of a few props. Changes to the basic costumes were also minimal. Twelve actors and a chorus of seven acted all of the roles and remained seated in view of the audience when they were not onstage.
The original production solved other problems in a modern way. A screen was used on which to project various backgrounds, such as the sky, crows fighting, or a coal tipple. Spot lighting was also used to shift scenes and single out actors. Electronic equipment was used to provide sounds, such as the sounds of the crows fighting (at the beginning of “God’s Great Supper”).
As the crows illustrate, the play also makes use of symbolism. Perhaps the best example of symbolism is in the play’s last episode, “The War on Poverty,” where the possibility of the land’s regeneration appears in the broom sedge and pine sprouts growing out of the waste. The robbing of a grave containing American Indian artifacts (and Morning Star’s remarkably preserved daughter) connects the end of the play with its beginning, and the corpses rising out of their graves recall the whole cycle. At the very end, a wolf appears for the first time in more than fifty years, as though Nature is reclaiming her own.
Critical Context
When The Kentucky Cycle was first produced, it offended some people in southeastern Kentucky and throughout Appalachia who did not like how the play portrayed their region. They considered the play just another instance of stereotyping of “hillbillies,” another example of the media’s obligatory tour of Appalachian poverty. The award of the 1992 Pulitzer Prize in drama to The Kentucky Cycle did not help matters, since it seemed to applaud such stereotyping and imply gross national ignorance about the region.
Yet many Appalachians would wholeheartedly subscribe to the play’s environmental message, and it is this message that Schenkkan has said he meant to send. The play is a warning: Yesterday Appalachia, tomorrow Los Angeles. Although the play portrays a grim regional history, it forecasts a grim national future.
The epic nature of the text and the original staging of the play also indicate that The Kentucky Cycle is far from a realistic portrayal. There is not room in the play for extensive character development and for examining all sides of the play’s complex questions. Rather, the mode of the play is like the drama of the German Marxist playwright Bertolt Brecht, who gave the world the term “epic drama” to describe the propagandistic works he wrote. Similar plays in the United States are the historical outdoor dramas and religious dramas, and reaching further back in time, one can see distant similarities of The Kentucky Cycle to the medieval mystery cycles.
Sources for Further Study
Billings, Dwight, Gurney Norman, and Katherine Ledford, eds. Back Talk from Appalachia: Confronting Stereotypes. Lexington: University Press of Kentucky, 2001.
Colakis, Marianthe. “Aeschlyean Elements in Robert Schenkkan’s The Kentucky Cycle.” Text and Presentation: The Journal of the Comparative Drama Conference 16 (1995): 19-23.
Kaufman, Warner. “Theater: The Kentucky Cycle.” Nation 257 (December 13, 1993): 740-743.
Mason, Bobbie Ann. “Recycling Kentucky.” The New Yorker 69 (November 1, 1993): 50.
May, Theresa J. “Frontiers: Environmental History, Ecocriticism, and The Kentucky Cycle.” Journal of Dramatic Theory and Criticism 14 (Fall, 1999): 159-178.