Mary Lucy Bivins with director Nick Piper
In the heart of Appalachia, a tale of resilience and determination unfolds. It’s the story of Emma Gatewood, affectionately known as Grandma Gatewood, who embarked on an extraordinary journey that transcended the boundaries of age and gender. In the year 1955, at the age of 67, Grandma Gatewood set out to conquer the rugged Appalachian Trail, a feat that would etch her name into the rocks of the mountains and the pages of history.
It is in this history that Barter Theatre’s playwright—in—residence, Catherine Bush, brings to the stage the spirit of one woman’s indomitable will and how it illuminates the path for generations to come.
“I had never heard of Emma Gatewood until 10 or 15 years ago when my friend Chelsea Marcantel, a fellow playwright, wanted to research a play down in Damascus, Virginia,” Bush said. “It had nothing to do with Grandma Gatewood — but we went into some of the trail apparel stores and there -— sitting on a block podium — were a pair of Grandma Gatewood’s shoes.”
Emma Gatewood wore white Keds to hike the Appalachian Trail, and Bush said that she went through seven pairs by the time she completed her arduous journey — as they didn’t have the hiking equipment back then in 1955 that they have now, and she needed shoes that would be comfortable for her trek.
“I saw these shoes and thought to myself, some 67—year—old woman did this? Wow, this is amazing, and I ended up buying Ben Montgomery’s book ‘Grandma Gatewood’s Walk’ and read it,” Bush said. “Fast forward to a few years ago when (producing artistic director) Katy Brown was trying to pick her season and asked me if I had a show for two people. That’s when I thought that maybe I could turn ‘Grandma Gatewood’s Walk’ into something.”
Bush’s play “Grandma Gatewood Took a Walk” didn’t appear in the show line—up that year, but she knew that there was something special about what she was creating — and it ended up being a part of the Appalachian Festival of Plays and Playwrights at Barter in 2023.
Brown found a place for the Appalachian tale in the 2024 summer line—up. Bush added that she has had hikers reaching out to her about their own hikes on the Appalachian Trail, and in each they all relate to Grandma Gatewood in the same way — they were seeking something along the path.
“Even though there is a main through—line of the play, it does go off. We talk about how when you’re walking the trail, it’s not a straight line. You have to wander off to get food, you have to wander off to get shelter. You wander off and come back,” Bush explained.
“But the reason you’re hearing this story is that people have always wondered why she did it. And Emma only said she thought it would be a lark.”
“Grandma Gatewood Took a Walk” explores one avenue of why she may have done it, and Bush said her job as a playwright is to dramatize that while trying to stay within the parameters of history.
“My theory may be right, or it may be wrong, but it stays within what we know about her and what happened to her,” Bush notes. “I think what a lot of women in particular connect to is that someone who is 67 years old didn’t stop. And she didn’t just walk it once, she walked it three times.”
Bush feels that people step onto the trail for various reasons; some to run away from something, some to connect with nature, and some to connect with life itself.
“Life can be crazy. I think a lot of hikers get on that trail because they are testing themselves against nature, but also so they can get away,” Bush said. “One thing Emma Gatewood talks about is how she loved being alone and just by herself. Not having to worry about anybody else. You don’t have to worry about anything else, just copperheads, twisting your ankle and finding food. I think there’s something primal about it that people like testing their wits against Mother Nature.
“It’s exciting to hear how many people around this area just take up and walk part of the Appalachian Trail all the time. And people just admire Emma Gatewood and the challenges she faced and ultimately overcame — not just on the trail, but in her own life. They are the same challenges others face and they want to see themselves on stage.”
Everyone wants to see themselves represented, and to know that somebody else sees them, according to Bush.
“I think that’s what people are going to relate to. Here’s a woman who suffered untold indignities in a marriage full of domestic violence, and her willingness to leave him and get a divorce in her 30s after having 11 children,” Bush explained. “It’s how she survived physically and emotionally after all that. She told everyone on the trail that he was dead, and he was not. She just thought it was easier than to explain the unexplainable. And did all this in the 1950s.”
Bush emphasizes the enormous strength Emma Gatewood had and how that in itself will resonate with women across Appalachia and beyond.
“Anybody who finds themselves in a situation they can’t even talk to or who has survived that or is enduring that, I hope will get strength from her story,” Bush said. “That’s definitely my hope.”
Tickets are on sale now at bartertheatre.com on Smith’s stage May 11 to June 9.
