BY IVAN SANDERS

STAR STAFF

ivan.sanders@elizabethton.com

After great weather greeted the first week of the state’s official outdoor drama, ‘Liberty,’ cast members are prepared to begin a second week on Thursday as it will be Veterans Night where all veterans and one guest will get free admission.

There will be shows on Friday and Saturday night as well.

This week, the character spotlight will be on Bonnie Kate who is portrayed in the drama by Katie Kleineick.

What intrigued you to take on the role of Bonnie Kate?

“Well, my dad got my sister and me into it because he applied to be the assistant director,” Kleineick said. “And when he got the job, he was like why don’t you two audition just for the fun of it.

“We have done several plays in the past, I had done several in college, and we thought it’s history and we love history, it something new — let’s try it.

“We came in and everyone was just absolutely fantastic and I learned a lot the first year and I have tried to continue that tradition,” Kleineick continued. “Each year I find a new book on the subject and read it and try to learn something new, maybe a different viewpoint about a person I didn’t know much about.

“We have done the drama for three years and we have loved it.”

A little insight into who Bonnie Kate was.

“Bonnie Kate was originally from North Carolina and settled in this area. She was considered a little eccentric — big fancy hats, ran around with the guys hunting, shooting, and fishing which was really expected of a pioneer woman,” Kleineick stated.

“You just didn’t just sit back and sip tea from fine china. She is a very strong personality, sort of Tomboyish, and you had to be. If you had it you made it and if you didn’t you went without — that was the way it was with food, implements, clothing — it didn’t matter.

What’s that — Bonnie Kate just jumped over the wall.

One of the most memorable scenes from ‘Liberty’ is where Bonnie Kate leaps over the fort wall being chased by Indians.

“It’s very fun,” said Kleineick with a chuckle. “Paul (John Sevier) always catches me. The funny thing is and I have read something about it is that none of the family John Sevier and Katherine Sherrill (Bonnie Kate) actually associated that act with how they met.

“It was just where he saved her but it wasn’t really that important,” Kleineick continued. “A lot of people probably got drug over the walls but that one just turned out to be the most memorable.

“They just fell in love.”

How important is it to portray the history of this area to those who attend?

“So few people realize how crucial this area was to the Revolution and before. A lot of the Cherokee took place here because it was the central meeting ground,” stated Kleineick.

“It was roughly in the middle of their territory. It was the place to meet. Here you had the Transylvania purchase — the largest private real estate deal in the United States bar none.

“You had the Watauga Association which predated the Declaration of Independence by a few years and then you have the muster before the march to Kings Mountain. If none of those had taken place, it was possible that the entire Revolution would have fallen apart.”