The Ponca Playhouse invites the community to come see their last performance of “Lydie Marland in the Afterlife.” Tonight, Sat., July 23 at 7:30 pm, they are showing this play, which was written by Isabella Russell-Ides and loosely based on the life of Lydie Marland with a twist. The plot is described as, “… she returns to consciousness after her death and retraces her life as a debutante, wife of oil magnate E.W. Marland, first lady of Oklahoma, and as a vagabond who went missing for a quarter of a century.” This compelling, if not controversial, piece of Ponca City’s own history has caught the eye of many, including Russell-Ides.

Lydie was E.W. Marland’s niece and adopted daughter, turned wife after his first wife, Virginia, passed away. Two years after Virginia’s death, E.W. and Lydie were married after the annulment of her adoption, and he gifted the newly built Marland Mansion to her. After hard times and the death of her husband, Lydie became a recluse and many believed she was dead. This was proven to be untrue when the new owners of the mansion announced that they were going to sell and Lydie came home to write a letter to the editor of the Ponca City News, asking the people of Ponca City to support this sale and to save the mansion. She lived in her cottage, on the estate grounds, from 1975 until her death in 1987.

This play follows her perspective, as she travels back and sees her younger self go through these lifechanging, historical events. Tickets are $25 each and can be purchased online or through the box office at 580-789-5360.