Last Updated on 12/4/2008

Published on 7/3/2008

By Clayton Stairs

cstairs@gtowntimes.com

Under gigantic moss-draped live oaks, surrounded by the sweet fragrance of hollyhocks and Day Lillies, an audience seated in lawn chairs watches in awe as the well-known story of Alice Flagg and her forbidden love unfolds before their eyes.

This story, which has become legend in this area, is one of family secrets, social structure and the mystery of the people who lived in this area more than 150 years ago. Alice, a young woman who died before her time, is believed to haunt the marsh around her former home in Murrells Inlet as well as what many believe to be her gravesite at All Saints Church in Pawleys Island.

Brookgreen Gardens is now presenting "The Legend of Alice Flagg" on Wednesdays through July 16 in the Theater in the Gardens, located in Live Oak Allee. Part of the Cool Summer Evenings program at Brookgreen, this debut production was written by Lori Lewis and is being directed by Pat Tukey, vice president of development at Brookgreen Gardens and the director of a recent and the very well-received production of "Cabaret" at the Strand The-

SEE GHOSTS, Page 4B

ater in Georgetown.

"Brookgreen Gardens is the perfect setting to explore this ghostly tale, especially since it all happened here in the Lowcountry," Tukey said. "The sun going down behind the actors in the gardens really creates a beautiful picture."

The story

According to the legend, Alice Flagg was a beautiful teenage girl living with her mother and older brother, Dr. Allard Flagg, in a house on the marsh of Murrells Inlet called The Hermitage. Groomed from an early age to marry a wealthy rice planter, Alice instead fell in love with a common mill worker named William Stuart, who asked for her hand in marriage.

When her brother refused to allow them to marry and Alice was sent to Charleston to attend boarding school, she was devastated and eventually became ill. Brought back to The Hermitage on a four-day journey, Alice died shortly afterwards and was buried in her favorite white dress.

A grave in All Saints churchyard, marked with only the name Alice, is believed by many to be her final resting place. The ground around the large stone is worn by people visiting the grave site and walking around it 13 times backwards, which they believe awakens the ghost of Alice Flagg. There are also many reports of a misty figure that appears to be a young girl in a white flowing dress that wanders the inlet in search of the ring her suitor gave her.

Lewis wrote this play after visiting the Hermitage in the 1980s, when owner Clark Wilcox would spin the tale about Alice on his front porch. To make the language of the play as authentic as possible, she used wording from copies of the Winyah Observer of Georgetown.

She says people are so intrigued by this story because it happened here on the South Carolina coast.

"I think they like the sense of history of long ago in the place where it actually happened," Lewis said. "This romantic story is the 'Romeo an Juliet' of the Lowcountry."

She has also written two other plays, both in a similar format, which are "The Trial of Anne Bonny and Mary Read," a tale of two female pirates, and "Our Theodosia," a story about Theodosia Burr, her famous father, Vice-president Aaron Burr, and her husband, Joseph Allston, a former governor of South Carolina.

'Three voices'

Presented using two forms of live theater, which Lewis calls "three voices," this production includes segments which are a modified readers theater and other segments which are live action theater. Reader's theater, unlike live action theater, does not attempt to create the illusion that events are actually taking place, but requires the audience to participate in the "theater of the mind," Tukey said.

Lewis, who is a published poet and veteran teacher, states that she used this format because she originally wrote the play as a readers theater piece for high school students. Since the play was only 15 minutes long, she had to add more speaking parts and the live action theater parts to make this play fit the time frame of 45 minutes which Tukey needed for this performance.

The actors

Lewis says that the actors are perfect for the roles they play in this production of "The Legend of Alice Flagg" and that their performances are amazing. The actors are Leigh Anne Sauvageau as Alice Flagg, Jack Luber as Dr. Allard Flagg, and Daniel Bumgardner as William Stuart.

"Leigh Anne is so lovely and in costume she looks so much like the Alice Flagg portrait," Lewis said. "Daniel, who plays the beau is so tender and loving, and Jack is a terrific villain."

Sauvageau, who is a graduate of Myrtle Beach's Academy of Arts and Sciences, says she really enjoys playing Alice.

"It is cool to play somebody that was actually alive and that a lot of people know about," Sauvageau said. "I have to live up to these standards because everybody knows the story of Alice Flagg."

Bumgardner, a theater major at the University of South Carolina who has performed in "Sunshine Boys" and "A Mid-summer Night's Dream" at the Strand Theatre, agrees that it makes it more interesting to play an actual historical figure.

"The fact that it might have happened is kind of exciting," Bumgardner said. "It is kind of a heavy burden to do justice to an actual real person."

Luber, who performed many productions in the New York area and recently performed in "The Sunshine Boys and "Cabaret" at the Strand Theatre, says this play makes him "feel like a southerner."

"What is great about this play is that I live in Murrells Inlet and it all happened here," Luber said. "These were actual people in this actual place."

Cool Summer Evenings

Featuring live entertainment on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays through Aug. 15, the gardens will be open to the public until 9 p.m. for Cool Summer Evenings.

All entertainment is included in the regular admission to the gardens. Cruises down the creek are offered all three evenings at 5:30 and 6:30 p.m.. and are $7 in addition to garden admission.

On Wednesdays, after July 16, two romantic comedy plays, written by Kathryn Martin, will be offered at the Theater in the Gardens. They are "The Bridal Path," a story about a couple planning a wedding, and "Fixing Up Mom," about a widow being paired with a blind date by her daughter.

On Thursdays, kids can go on a nature walk at 4 p.m., followed by an interactive evening animal program at 5 p.m. Then visitors may stroll through the gardens as music fills the air from 6 to 8 p.m. in the Oak Allee.

On Friday evenings, concert series performances are at 7 p.m. on the garden lawn area in front of Pegasus. Some of the performers include jazz trumpeter Javier Vega and his jazz trio on Aug. 1; African drums and dancers with Leon Jackson and the EGBE Family Kilimanjaro Aug. 8; the Arlin Strader jazz trio -- piano, bass and drums -- on July 11 and 25. Hilliard Greene from New York performs jazz favorites Aug. 15 on the upright base and Brian Ashley Jones, an accomplished guitarist, singer and songwriter from Nashville, entertains audiences on July 4.

Children 5 and under are admitted free; adult tickets (13 to 64) are $12; seniors (65 and over) pay $10; children ages 6 to 12 are admitted for $5. Admission to Brookgreen is good for seven days. "It is amazing what happens at Brookgreen Gardens in the summertime," Tukey said. "We offer visitors a chance to enjoy the gardens when the day has cooled off, while experiencing some wonderful performances of music and theater and some special programs for kids."

For more information, visit www.brookgreen.org or call 235-6000.