What if William Shakespeare lived in the old West, using tumbleweeds as his backdrop and cowpokes as his players?
Well, you’d have “Much Ado Out West,” a play written by Wade Bradford that will be performed beginning Oct. 3 by Encore Theatre, a collection of about 50 area thespians all over the age of 55 who perform at the Sermon Center in Independence.
“At first, I didn’t think our age group would go for it,” said Doris Wicker, the director of the play. She joined Encore Theatre 18 years ago and has directed six plays for the group. “Since it’s a romantic comedy, I was worried – until the first audition when 15 people showed up. Apparently, my age group gets a little more excited about subjects like this one than I thought.”
“Much Ado Out West” is a take-off of “Much Ado About Nothing,” a Shakespearean classic where the battle of the sexes takes center stage.
“It’s a wild romp, as they say,” said Wicker, laughing.
The story tells of Pedro, Benny and Claude, all cowboys called to duty at the outbreak of the Civil War. None of them experience any fighting, spending all their time cooped up in a solitary outpost, where the only prospect of injury comes with a scalding coffee pot. When the war comes to a close, the three fellows return to the ranch, expecting a warm welcome.
Instead, they return to a ranch overrun by women getting along perfectly well without them.
“It’s a blend of new actors with experienced ones,” Wicker said. “There’s a lot of energy.”
While the cowboys and cowgirls constantly bicker at each other (particularly Benny and Betty), love can’t help but surface through the cracks – however small they may be. Claude, who falls in love with Winny, a beautiful Southern belle who’s new to the ranch, must fend off Calamity Jane, a rough and tumble tomboy who has the hots for him and will do anything to get her way.
The play is Encore Theatre’s second of the year; for their spring production, they performed “Doctor Jeckyll, and No Place to Hyde.”
The play was chosen by the Encore committee more than a year ago because it’s relatively unknown. According to Wicker, the group has never been known to perform the usual as long as she’s been a member.
“We used to mix weird melodramas with comedies,” Wicker said. “And we did a lot of Tim Kelly productions (Kelly was a playwright who wrote ‘Mark Twain in the Garden of Eden’ and ‘Bride of Frankenstein Goes Malibu,’ among many others).”
The costumes are selected by each cast member.
“Myself and Marsha Armstrong (assistant director) tell them what they’re supposed to look like, and it’s up to them to make it work,” Wicker said.
The set features a mural of rolling hills and prairie painted by Joyce Veazey, who also has a small part in the play.
“Joyce is the artist among our midst,” Wicker said.
Wicker said she didn’t read Shakespeare’s “Much Ado About Nothing” before directing.
“They don’t have much in common,” she said.
They do, however, both have villains. But whereas “Much Ado About Nothing’s” villain is Don John, the somber type who is the illegitimate brother of Don Pedro, “Much Ado Out West” has a “milquetoast type of villain,” Wicker said.
‘Much Ado Out West’
Presented by the Encore Theatre group
Directed by Doris Wicker
Dates: 7:30 p.m. Oct. 3, 4, 10 and 11 and 2 p.m. Oct. 5 and 12
Powerhouse Theatre in the Sermon Center, 201 N. Dodgion in Independence
Cost is $7 for adults, $6 for seniors and $3 for children under age 12
Reservations are recommended. For more information, please call 816-325-7367.
The production includes a special performance by the Encore Singers.
Independence, MO —
