The wacky trio from The Thistle Creek Thespian Society roll into the old saloon at Cactus Gulch, New Mexico, in 1889 to entertain Mayor Maynot and the apparently simple folk of the town. The Mayor, played by Nickalaus Collins, demands that the touring group perform three comedies for him and his trusty assistant Tanya Hyde, played by Cierra Schwartz. Three comedies ensue and it isn’t long before the Mayor is dragged into the proceedings and he discovers his new love for performing.
The first of the comedies follows Jack, a country boy who heads to the big city to make money for his mother, but along the way he meets the Devil; she doesn’t look anything like what his mother had warned him about. Smith Griggs, who plays Able N’ Willin, who in turn plays Jack, is ultimately the best performer in this comedy theatre production. He was really able to convey the ‘Jack the lad’ character convincingly and had a strong stage presence.
The second comedy involves puppetry, telling the story of two sisters who set out on a voyage for gold. The first is selfish and ends up with nothing, the second is selfless and is ultimately rewarded. This was the funniest part of the show. However, from that point onwards part of the audience was left feeling excluded from the fun, as the performers played up to audience members who were friends and school teachers from their establishment, Dimond High School, in Achorage, Alaska. As teachers were dragged up onto the stage to join in the third comedy about Izzy and the Cow, the performance increasingly started to resemble a school play, which was unfortunate.
The play was written especially for the Fringe by P. Shane Mitchell. Although interesting, the story was somewhat two-dimensional and lacked any real exploration of what the quiet people of Cactus Gulch might think of this touring company of comedians.
