“Grandma Gatewood Took a Walk,” July 10 through 18

Friday, July 18, through Saturday, July 18

The Black Box Theatre, 1623 Fifth Avenue, Moline IL

With Broadway World praising the play as "a heartwarming and truly inspiring tale," author Catherine Bush's Grandma Gatewood Took a Walk makes its Quad Cities debut at Moline's Black Box Theatre July 10 through 18, Family Beautiful adding to the praise by calling the show "thoughtful without being precious, inspiring without being saccharine, and serious without forgetting to be human."

In 1955, at the age of 67, Emma Gatewood told her children she was “going for a walk” and set out with her duffel bag, shower curtain (to keep dry) and a pair of Keds sneakers to walk the Appalachian Trail. Two thousand miles later, she became the first woman to solo hike 14 states from Georgia to the top of Mt. Katahdin in Maine, and is largely credited with saving the Appalachian Trail. Gatewood completed her third hike of the A.T., this time in sections, in 1964 at age 76, making her the first person to complete the trail three times. She was also credited with being the oldest female thru-hiker by the Appalachian Trail Conference, and the true story of Grandma Gatewood Took a Walk celebrates the woman's heroic accomplishments while delivering what Barter Theatre called "a wildly theatrical adventure."

Serving as director and designer of Grandma Gatewood Took a Walk is the Black Box Theatre's co-founder and artistic director Lora Adams, whose recent presentations for her venue have included The Half-Life of Marie Curie, All Is Calm: The Christmas Truce of 1914, Thrill Me: The Leopold & Loeb Story, and the United States premiere of Florian Zeller's The Truth. Adams also designed the play's sets and costumes, with additional members of her creative team including lighting designer Jennifer Kingry and sound designer Doug Kutzli.

Two area favorites, meanwhile, compose the entirety of Grandma Gatewood's cast: Jackie Skiles (the Richmond Hill Barn Theatre's Misery and 84 Charing Cross Road) as the title character, and James Driscoll (the Mockingbird on Main's To Kill a Mockingbird, Richmond Hill's The Woman in Black) portraying every other role in the show.

“In keeping with our mission and history," said Adams, "we are thrilled to be the third theatre in the United States to present this story of a most remarkable woman, The script was brought to my attention by actress, hiker, and outdoor enthusiast Autumn O’Ryan. She was originally scheduled to play Emma, but a medical situation precluded her ability to be in the show and Jackie stepped in beautifully."

The production is sponsored by The Tony and Joyce Singh Foundation. Singh is also an avid hiker. In 1988 Tony set out to hike the Appalachian Trail, which took him 23 years of section-hiking to complete. In 2013, he solo-hiked, 240 miles through the California wilderness on the John Muir trail, which spans from Yosemite to Mount Whitney – the highest point in the continental United States.

Grandma Gatewood Took a Walk makes its Quad Cities debut July 10 through 18, with Moline performances Thursday through Saturday at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m. Admission is $18, and more information and tickets are available by calling (563)284-2350 and visiting TheBlackBoxTheatre.com.