ROCK SPRINGS —The Actors’ Mission is set to present the mostly true story of Floyd Collins and the White Angels of Sand Cave November 9-13.

Set in Kentucky where caves were a source of tourism and revenue, Floyd Collins set out in 1925 to find another entrance to the popular Mammoth Cave. Instead, he found himself trapped, and trapped for life. For two weeks, Floyd lay pinned underground by a boulder in Sand Cave. Rescue attempts evolved into a nationwide media circus heightened by the new invention of radio broadcasts.

In the play, a group of neighbors of Floyd Collins try to remember the details of the story and what actually happened as a counter to the distortions and disinformation that surfaced in popular songs, TV programs, and films that came later. The actors play multiple roles as the play switches back and forth from the present to the past.  The play is co-directed by Heather E. Pristash and Nina Tyler and features many of the core troupe of the community theater as well many new-comers.

Nina Tyler notes that Floyd Collins and the White Angels of Sand Cave is as geographically relevant to the abandoned mines and caves of Sweetwater County as it is  pertinent to contemporary media sensationalism. “It’s a story that could happen right here, right now,” Tyler said. “But what makes the story a tragedy is not necessarily the entrapment itself or the distorted media reports, but the misguided efforts of rescue. Floyd Collins wasn’t killed by a rock,” she said. “He was killed by hope.” 

Floyd Collins and the White Angels of Sand Cave is presented in agreement with Blue Moon Plays and is partially funded by Sweetwater Board of Cooperative Educational Services. Performances will take place at the Broadway Theater in downtown Rock Springs and will begin at 7 p.m. on November 9 through 12. There will be a matinee on Sunday, November 13, at 2 p.m. For an Actors’ Mission tradition, a complimentary meal will be served one hour prior to all performances and there is no admission fee.