NEW ROCHELLE, NY — Tutti Bravi Productions, Inc. will present a staged reading and sing-through of an original music-drama “Anne Hutchinson”, on Sunday, September 24, 2017, at 3:00 pm, in the Ossie Davis Theater of the New Rochelle Public Library. Written by John Taylor Thomas and directed by Billie Tucker, the production dramatizes the life of the extraordinary woman and her involvement in settling lower Westchester. It is produced by Karen S. Allen and Billie Tucker, with support from ArtsWestchester.
“Anne Hutchinson” was one of three theatrical pieces selected as winners of a Westchester Writers’ Competition held by Tutti Bravi Productions earlier this year. The entries had to be by and about Westchester people. The other two winning works, “Victory Gardens” by Tara Maddaugh of Harrison, and “Headless” by Patricia White of Katonah will become future productions of the company. Tutti Bravi Productions, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, dedicated to honoring the history of Westchester. A donation of $5.00 is suggested at the door.
Anne Hutchinson, mother of 15, was a Puritan spiritual adviser whose strong religious convictions were at odds with the established clergy in the Boston area where she and her family settled in 1634. She was eventually tried for those beliefs and banished from the colony, along with her family and many of her supporters. Moving south, she helped Roger Williams establish the colony of Rhode Island. When Massachusetts began to threaten to take over Rhode Island, she led her family and supporters 150 miles on foot to resettle in the area known as Split Rock, a Dutch colony, which was then in Eastchester. Considering the natives friendly, their group was surprised by a Siwanoy attack in 1643 and all were killed — all but Anne’s daughter who survived by hiding in the Split Rock.