Offbeat characters bring 'Guns' to life
Kathleen Allen Arizona Daily Star | Posted: Friday, March 5Let's just get this out of the way:
'Flaming Guns of the Purple Sage,' which Beowulf Alley Theatre opened Saturday, is ridiculous. Bloody. Over the top. Far-fetched.
And, yes, funny.
Lucas Gonzales and Holly-Marie Carlson in Beowulf Alley's "Flaming Guns of the Purple Sage."
The Jane Martin play can't be serious - it seems the playwright just wanted a home for these deliciously offbeat characters, so she wrote 'Flaming Guns' (or he did; some think Jane Martin is the pen name for director Jon Jory).
Director Steve Anderson certainly - and thankfully - didn't take it seriously. He played up every ludicrous moment, poured on the gore, made sure there were a few horror moments.
'Flaming Guns' takes place on an isolated ranch where Big 8, a one-time rodeo worker, repairs young cowboys who have been injured or otherwise broken. She's tough as silver spurs and isn't afraid to act it.
It's 3 in the a.m. when she's doing some repair work on one of her cowboys, RobBob, when a woman with hair that looks like 'thrown-up strawberry milkshake' comes tumbling in the door. Her name is Shedevil and she's looking for Big 8's son, who's left her high, dry and pregnant. And oh, by the way, she's being chased by a one-eyed Ukrainian Hells Angel.
Well, all hell breaks loose, guns are fired, blood is shed, beer is drunk, a body is dismembered. You get the picture.
Susan Arnold gave Big 8 a swagger and an attitude, and Holly-Marie Carlson's Shedevil was a sexy manipulator. Gabe Nagy played the one-eyed cat who suffered great humiliation as he was shot, kicked and roughed up. Nagy, big and scary, took the abuse with a certain amount of eloquence (his pratfalls are balletic), which, frankly, had little place on that stage.
You'll laugh at 'Flaming Guns,' even as you roll your eyes at the clichés, the horror, the shaky story line.
And, we're willing to bet, laughter is about all Jane Martin had in mind when she penciled this script.
Review
'Flaming Guns of the Purple Sage'
• By: Jane Martin.
• Presented by: Beowulf Alley Theatre.
• Director: Steve Anderson.
• When: 7:30 p.m. Thursdays through Saturdays and 1:30 p.m. Sundays through March 14.
• Where: Beowulf Alley Theatre, 11 S. Sixth Ave.
• Tickets: Thursday performances $15; Friday and Saturday $18 when purchased online; otherwise, $20. Student rush tickets are $12 cash 15 minutes before curtain, if seats are available. Must have ID.
• Reservations/ information: www.beowulfalley.org or 882-0555.
• Running time: About 2 hours, including intermission.
Contact reporter Kathleen Allen at kallen@azstarnet.com or 573-4128.
