Asking yourself, "Where can I hear Appalachian young people talking with their elders about what's next for the region?" Right here. With singing and dancing? You bet.

Higher Ground 5: Find A Way, an original dramatic musical about telling the truth and finding a way to move forward as a county, opens Thursday, April 9th at 7:30 PM in the Nicey and Alice Hazen Theater in the Godbey Appalachian Center on Southeast Kentucky Community amp; Technical Colleges Cumberland Campus.

Find A Way is the 5th installment of the Higher Ground series of community performances created by local and guest artists and performed by a local cast. Past plays Higher Ground, Playing With Fire, Talking Dirt, and Foglights dealt with drug abuse, out migration, land use, community assets, the foggy future before us, and how we are going to bring up these topics and discuss them as community.

Find A Way includes local stories and original music. The script was written by Higher Ground cast members and area high school and community college students. It mixes stories from Harlan Countys dramatic history with scenes exploring trials and truths we have all faced. Find A Way stories range from cats in refrigerator boxes to charging people money to listen to their problems. It is also about leveling with one another, dealing with economic and personal grief, lost dogs, homegrown tomatoes, telling one's parents things they may not want to hear, and fending off packs of crazed coyotes with a flashlight and a radio. The play includes dramatic lighting, live music, scenic effects and choreographed movement the likes of which you may never see again.

This production of Find A Way is more community-based than ever. Community members have been hired as writers, directors, choreographers, musicians, artists and in the stage and lighting design.

Find A Way is part of a larger community effort to use the arts to build up the community and revitalize the county coordinated by the Southeast Kentucky Community amp; Technical College Appalachian Program and supported by grants from the Appalachian Regional Commission, the National Endowment for the Arts Our Town program, The Chorus Foundation, The Robert E. Frazier Foundation, and Alternate ROOTS.

Performance dates for Higher Ground 5: Find A Way are as follows:

THURSDAY, APRIL 9TH @ 7:30PM
FRIDAY, APRIL 10TH @ 7:30PM
SATURDAY, APRIL 11TH @ 2:30PM amp; 7:30PM
SUNDAY, APRIL 12TH @ 2:30PM

Tickets are $4 for adults and $2 for twelve and under. For reservations or more information, contact Alexia Ault @ (606) 589-3129 or by email @ aault0002@kctcs.edu