"Through Hell Gate to The Promised Land" is a storytelling performance about the first Norwegian group of emigrants that arrived in New York at October 9th, 1825. At the Seamen's Church in New York on Wednesday May 11 at 7 pm and Mindekirken in Minneapolis on May 17.
Anne Elisebeth Skogen is a Norwegian storyteller living close to the city of Stavanger. She has written a manuscript for the guides onboard on the new constructed replica of the emigration ship RESTAURATION. The boat was baptized last summer and will be sailing in the fiords around Stavanger for tourists and maybe also - in time - cross the Atlantic to America. Anne Elisebeth also has made a school version of the story and toured schools in south - west Norway.
Now she has made an English version and will have a storytelling performance in The Norwegian Seamen Church in New York on May 11. and at Mindekirken in Minneapolis on May 17.
Anne Elisebeth has worked with the written source material and literature about the sloopers and has made a selection of it and created an oral story of 50 minutes.
The story follows the emigrants from their first thoughts about emigration, and further on the preparations, the crossing, how they passed Hell Gate, the arriving in New York and the further travel up to Kendall at Lake Ontario. Through the storytelling you will learn to know about the leader of the group, Lars Gjeilane, how he got the idea to emigrate, but you will also learn to know some of the other emigrants. More over you will hear about social - and religious conditions in Norway compared with America.
In this performance you will get the experience of joining the emigrants on their about four month long travel from Stavanger to Kendall.