'Strike at the Wind!' returns July 12-15

Jul. 9—MAXTON — "Strike at the Wind!" — the outdoor drama that chronicles the life of Lumbee legend Henry Berry Lowrie — will return with four shows this week.

The play will be performed at the historic Adolph Dial Amphitheater at the Lumbee Cultural Center on Tuesday through Friday with each show beginning at 8 p.m.

Tickets went on sale June 6. General admission is $10. For tickets, visit uncp.edu/gpac or call the Givens Performing Arts Center Box Office at 910-521-6361.

"UNC Pembroke is honored to collaborate with the Lumbee Tribe to offer multiple nights this year so that no one in our community will be sold out from attending," said Jonathan Drahos, the play's director who also serves as director of Theatre at The University of North Carolina at Pembroke.

"I'm excited this year because the cultural center lake is filled back up and the setting for the play is so incredibly majestic," Drahos said.

The amphitheater has also undergone major renovations.

"Strike at the Wind!" was first performed in 1976 at the Adolph Dial Amphitheater overlooking the scenic Country Club Lake. It continued for 20 seasons, ending in 1996. The play returned in 1999 and 2007 and was revived again in 2017 and 2018 — after a decade-long hiatus — on stage at the Givens Performing Arts Center, thanks to the collaborative efforts of UNCP, the Lumbee Tribe and the community.

tus The play has been performed before sold-out crowds for the last four years.

The play tells the story of the Lowrie War in 1865. It chronicles the life of Henry Berry Lowrie, who led a band of men in a seven-year battle against those he believed killed his father and brother. The cast includes several former and current UNCP theatre students, including Billy Oxendine and Cheyenne Ward, who play Henry and his wife, Rhoda Strong. Oxendine and Ward will reprise their roles again this summer.

About UNC Pembroke

Established in 1887 as a normal school to train American Indian teachers, UNC Pembroke today has an enrollment of 8,319 in 41 undergraduate and 18 graduate programs. UNCP is a constituent institution of The University of North Carolina System.