Scavengers swoop in quickly to abandoned and neglected buildings to find unique objects to either enhance their own homes or discover items they can sell for a profit. They time their hunts to arrive and depart with great haste, in and out in different locations, discovering trays of salt and pepper shakers and pink wall piggy hangers with great delight.
To enter the unusual ghost town world of two long time scavengers, take your courage and your big garbage bags to TheaterWorks Hartford’s world premiere of Drew Larimore’s “The Cannibals of McGower County” until Sunday, August 30. Prepare for a bizarre encounter with Annalee Jefferies’s Lindalyn and Constance Shulman’s Viola that will keep you unsettled and puzzled as the drama twists and turns with explosions and surprises.
Lindalyn and Viola are having a wonderful time exploring and hunting for treasures when they alarmingly realize, to their dismay, that they are no longer alone at the west Texas barbecue restaurant. A young couple Edward Hoke’s Blaze and Gus Birney’s Sarah Nell, clearly in the early stages of love, appear. He has just bought the ghost town, including the long closed restaurant and he is exuberant about his new love for Sarah Nell and the prospect of a promise filled future together. He even has a diamond engagement ring to prove his good intentions.
What could happen when these two diverse sets of competitors collide? Will they respect their differences or mightily clash in disastrous ways? Jen Wineman directs this wild and wooly encounter that not everybody survives. For tickets ($43-78), call TheaterWorks Hartford, 233 Pearl Street, Hartford at 860-527-7838 or online at twhartford.org. Performances are Tuesday to Saturday at 7:30 p.m. and Saturday and Sunday at 2:30 p.m., with additional shows Saturday, August 22 at noon and 4 p.m. and Thursday, August 27 at 1 p.m.
Take a volatile adventure with unexpected consequences that may just shock your sensibilities. Secrets long buried are sure to be revealed in this macabre tradition of Southern Gothic.
