DAMASCUS, PA — “Lucy Joseph” is a new performance written by Mimi McGurl and produced by Farm Arts Collective, an “agri-cultural” collective of artists and farmers located on Willow Wisp Organic farm. The show will run June 5-8.

It is based on the life of a 19th-century, gender non-conforming pioneer Lucy Ann Joseph Israel Lobdell. The performance is written and directed by Mimi McGurl with contributed story and texts from local author William Klaber, historical texts by L.A. Lobdell and others.

The original musical performance features Jess Beveridge in the title role, as well as Doug Rogers, Pam Arnold, John Roth, Samantha Mehlman, Annie Hat and Laura Moran. Dramaturgy is by Mark Dunau.

Performances take place at 7 p.m. at the collective’s new agri-cultural center.

The historical figure at the center of the play is Lucy Ann/Joseph Israel Lobdell, aka The Female Hunter of Long Eddy, who lived in the Delaware River Valley in the mid-1800s. During Lobdell’s well-documented years, colorful labels were attached to them in newspaper articles, histories and medical records. Raised as a girl, Lobdell, by 30 years of age, clearly preferred to live their life as a man. Lobdell’s life speaks volumes to the cultural shifts that squeezed through so much religious and political turmoil during the 19th century. 

“The play captures the historical times while drawing parallels to contemporary socio-political arguments, how, nearly two centuries later, there are still powerful and influential people who insist that genetic markings at birth remain forever the essential truth of who we are,” according to a press release. “Lobdell’s life stands as a beacon of exactly how much more work still needs to be done for all of us to have the freedom to determine, for ourselves, our own gender identities and our own personal truths.”

Tickets are $30 and can be purchased at www.farmartscollective.org. A limited number of pay-what-you-can tickets are available for all shows this season.