What does it mean to be Appalachian? Many urban Appalachians cannot answer that question, especially the youngsters. They have no real sense of connection to their cultural identity, their music, their stories because parents and grandparents who moved to the cities are many miles and many years away from the mountains of home. The old ways - traditions, skills, the connection to nature - have been lost in the wake of such migrations. Follow the director, Jean St. John and her troupe of artists, Gurney Norman (well-known Kentucky writer), Faye Massey(storyteller), Brenda Saylor (poet), Bet Stewart (musician), Peg Baldock, (photographer) Eddie Kerr (playwright) and Jean Donohue (filmmaker) through a poignant, emotional and always lively journey to research, identify and celebrate the lives of some urban Appalachians who live in and around Covington, KY.

The spine upon which St. John's merry band built Jack In the City (a multi media theatrical experience) is the Jack Tales, a collection of ancient Celtic stories brought over to the Appalachian Mountains by their Scotch-Irish ancestors which have been lost to many Appalachian people. Jack, and his female counterpart Molly, are folk heroes of the first degree - plainspoken, honest, quick of wit and full of humor. They always defeat the Giant and take home the pot of gold. Goodness and humor triumph against all odds, a valuable and much-needed message of hope to a poor and disenfranchised community.

By interweaving some of the Jack Tales with their own oral histories, they create an evening of song and story that, according to Gurney Norman, "is reminiscent of the old days when people got together every Saturday night to entertain each other, to make music and tell stories, homemade in the best sense of the word." In the year long process of putting the piece together, the collaborators learn much about themselves and and create something that Faye Massey, who plays one of the Mollys in the production, calls 'magical.' Both on stage and behind the scenes, Jack in the City is a moving tribute to the human spirit.

Produced and Directed by Jean Donohue

56:45 min

DVD or VHS

2000