By Leah Schwarting

The Natchez Democrat

Natchez — When money, power and the ensuing tragic downfall take the stage at Natchez Little Theater this week, a little bit of Fall Pilgrimage history will be on show too.

“The Little Foxes,” NLT’s Fall Pilgrimage production, highlights the tale of a Southern family in the 1900s. The family has made a fortune off cheating others, and, as the siblings start a new business venture, they turn on each other.

The story focuses on the three Hubbard siblings, Ben, Regina and Oscar.

The family has convinced a wealthy merchant from the North to come and build a cotton mill nearby so they can maximize their profits. Regina’s husband, however, has yet to put up a third of the money, and a power struggle ensues between the siblings.

Director Layne Taylor believes it’s Regina’s strength that resonates with Natchez’s history.

“The power of the play is because Natchez’s economic survival is thanks to the women who created the pilgrimage,” Taylor said.

Regina is a clever and business-minded woman in a time, Taylor said, which was not friendly to strong women.

Portraying the indomitable Regina is Katharine Parrish.

“She carries the play on her shoulders, and she does an incredible job,” Taylor said.

Parrish also has a strong tie to the origins of pilgrimage in Natchez; her grandmother, Verna Faye Farr, was among those who helped get the annual tour of homes off the ground.

Parrish remembers her grandmother as strong and sweet. But while Regina certainly is strong, she is anything but sweet.

Regina is business-minded, but she’s also ruthless.

Parrish said she has some sympathy for Regina, a woman with no rights who wants control of her life. But she lost her heart along the way to achieving that goal, Parrish said.

“She doesn’t care about others,” Parrish said.

Regina is a product of her environment, learning by watching her brothers, but not trying to break free of their way of life, Parrish said.

“You can make better choices, and you can break the cycle, but it takes a strong heart to do that,” Parrish said.

There to lock horns with Parrish is Bo Allen, who plays the Hubbard family patriarch, Ben.

“He is the kind of person who will kiss your cheek and then stab you in the back,” Allen said.

It is a fight to the finish, as the family struggles for power and wealth, heedless of the cost they pay for achieving it.

“It’s going to be a hit, it really is,” Allen said.

Tickets are $15. Performances are 7:30 p.m. every Friday, Saturday, Monday and Wednesday Sept. 25 through Oct. 10.

The final performance will be 2 p.m., Oct. 11.

The play, written by Southern playwright Lillian Hellman, takes its title from the Song of Solomon in the King James version of the Bible: “Take us the foxes, the little foxes that spoil the vines: for our vines have tender grapes.”

For reservations, call 601-442-2233 or visit natchezlittletheatre.org.