“Some stories you have to say out loud to keep life in them,” says Miss Leah, the matriarch in the play “Flyin’ West.”

That story of an African-American family on the frontier at the turn of the 19th century will be told on stage at the Ed Cabell Theatre on the University of North Georgia Gainesville campus.

Considered a contemporary classic, the play will be produced by the Gainesville Theatre Alliance’s Discovery Series this month.

Free performances of the PG-13 play will be at 7:30 p.m. Nov. 11-14 at 3820 Mundy Mill Road in Oakwood. Patrons may arrive any time after 6:30 p.m. to check-in, with theater doors opening at 7:10 p.m. 

In “Flyin’ West,” the focus is on the trials of Miss Leah, Sophie, Fannie and Minnie who want to escape America’s violent past and to live in Nicodemus, Kan., in 1898. Love and hardship color their fight to define what home means to them and to claim their right to a benevolent portion of America.

Through poetic and moving language, “a lot of Cleage’s work addresses the African-American female and human experience, and it is important that our stories be told,” guest actor Annette Grievous said.

Grievous, a 1998 Brenau alumna and graduate of the GTA and tenured associate professor, will play the matriarchal character Miss Leah, but has prior connections to the play.

The play celebrates “the intelligence and strength African-American women have at various ages, stages and in spite of adversity,” Grievous said.

For more information, visit www.gainesvilletheatrealliance.org or call 678-717-3624.