he builds with Ántonia Shimerda, a girl recently emigrated from Bohemia. Set at the end of the 19th century, Jim and Ántonia grow up together in an American world of self-made men and women, grueling labor, small towns and windswept plains. In the tradition of memory plays like The Glass Menagerie and Dancing at Lughnasa, this fresh, new stage adaptation of Willa Cather’s most cherished novel, first produced in 2011, evokes Jim Burden’s lost past, our pioneer forebears, and the Bohemian girl who “fires the imagination” with theatrical grace and subtle power. “Remarkably theatrical, blending action, narration, intimate character development and a sweeping narrative arc seamlessly. An important contribution to the American theatre… Dapier has done that rare thing, entered so deeply the psyche of the novelist that it feels like we are watching the play (Cather) would have written, not a version of the play created by a sympathetic outsider.” -Christopher Shinn, Pulitzer Prize-finalist author of Teddy Ferrara, Dying City, Where Do We Live, and Four. “Dapier’s adaptation is faithful and true, lyrical and haunting. He has distilled this great novel into clear, essential dialogue that is as rich, poetic and vibrant as the American soil on which the story takes place.” -Andrew White, Artistic Director, Lookingglass Theatre Company, Recipient of the 2011 Regional Theatre Tony Award.

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