The ABC Players are kicking off their year with a play that defies description
Flaming Guns of the Purple Sage is not a play one can easily explain. Its director Gary L. Molina said it even “defies description.”
In the show, Shedevil, who has pink hair, a plastic hand and Tourette syndrome, is on the run from Black Dog, her murderous biker boyfriend, after she stole his cocaine money. She flees to look for her husband who is the son of Big 8, the driving force of the play.
“It mixes genres together,” Molina said. “Its subtitle is ‘a B western horror flick for the stage.’ ”
Local community theater group the ABC Players will present the play Thursday through Sunday at Stuart’s Opera House, 52 Public Square, Nelsonville. Rocky Factory Outlet Store sponsors the production.
Molina first read the show about five years ago and has been directing the show in his head ever since.
“I was laughing out loud from the very first reading,” he said. “That’s rare.”
Flaming Guns’ main character Big 8, a retired rodeo star, was actually featured in another play by the same playwright, Jane Martin. Talking With... is a series of monologues by women discussing their lives that explains the origin of Big 8’s name. When she was only 9 years old, she managed to ride a bucking bronco for eight seconds.
The play fuses dark comedy with horror with Westerns. Molina said it’s based on the theme of Western films. However, Kate Enger, who plays Big 8, said the show has upended the norms of the genre.
“In old Westerns, the men drive the action, and the women are often passive and clueless,” she said in an email. “Flaming Guns’ women definitely take charge in this production, and the men are often lovable, but clueless.”
In preparation for the play, Molina said he and Enger watched a combination of 40 old Western films, whose formula will be recognized in the play.
Because of the content and style, both Molina and Enger said they would recommend Flaming Guns of the Purple Sage for a PG-13 audience. There is also live gunfire of blanks.
“Compared to cable TV, it’s very mild,” Molina said. “But compared to what’s usually seen on the community theater stages in this area, it’s a bit racy.”
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