FRONT PAGE: 'FLAMING GUNS OF THE PURPLE SAGE' GET FIRED UP
by Chuck Graham
TucsonStage.com
"FLAMING GUNS OF THE PURPLE SAGE" GET FIRED UP
If you think the ideal cowboy breakfast is bacon, eggs and a beer, then “Flaming Guns of the Purple Sage” is your kind of theater. This satire of Hollywood westerns and horror movies, written for the stage by Jane Martin, opened Saturday, Feb. 27, at Beowulf Alley Theatre, 11 S. Sixth Ave.
Jane Martin is the pen name for a playwright generally believed to be Jon Jory (the son of Hollywood actor Victor Jory), famous in his own right as the retired artistic director of the Actors Theatre of Louisville, Kentucky.
What we know for sure, “Flaming Guns of the Purple Sage” is full of vivid descriptions combining the outrageous with the unexpected. Most outrageous is the tattoo-covered, multi-pierced, pink-and-black-haired Shedevil (Holly-Marie Carlson), so blatantly sexual and totally perverse she makes promiscuity seem like an entry level position. Shedevil is on the run from Black Dog (Gabe Nagy), an Ukranian sociopath evil enough to intimidate any lesser murderers blocking the path to his next victim.
Black Dog is heading their way fast, all smoke and speed on his big Harley-Davidson motorcycle. Unfortunately, Shedevil is leading Black Dog directly to the isolated ranch house of Big 8 (Susan Arnold), a larger-than-life figure with a mouth to match.
Big 8 is a rodeo world champion who got forced out of the business when beauty on the rodeo float became more important than actual talent in the rodeo ring. She’s none too happy about that, either.
Rooming at Big 8’s modest spread is RobBob (Lucas Gonzales), an injured rodeo rider whose life is dedicated to upholding the Code of the West. He’s also studied up on every cowboy movie ever made and knows all the best lines by heart.
Big 8, it seems, likes to rehabilitate injured bronc busters like RobBob. Adding assistance as required is more down-to-earth Shirl (Kirsten Long), Big 8’s sister, who has a day job hacking up cows and such at a local packing plant.
Horror movie satire is thrown into the mix, upping the ante on the action and spilling blood all over the stage as everyone gets more outrageous. Anxiety ratchets up rapidly when Shedevil keeps insisting Black Dog is getting closer. By intermission the actors are throwing bags of groceries at each other for emphasis. All of it leads up to Black Dog’s explosive entrance.
Coming on in Act Two is Benjamin C. Dygert as Baxter the local law enforcement officer. The comedy becomes more slap-stick, the dialogue less outrageous. Predicting the ending isn’t too difficult, either, so help yourself.
Steve Anderson as director puts the emphasis on speed in keeping all this accelerating. It takes some careful listening to get the humor in the lines as all these wacky characters never stop shouting, ducking and weaving around an elaborate cowboy kitchen designed by Joel Charles.
“Flaming Guns of the Purple Sage” continues Thursdays through Saturdays at 7:30 p.m., Sundays 1:30 p.m., to March 14 at Beowulf Alley Theatre, 11 S. Sixth Ave. Tickets are: $20 general admission at the door and by phone, 882-0555; $18 online at www.beowulfalley.org
