Flaming_Guns_of_the_Purple_Sage.

Flaming Guns of the Purple Sage. I attended the play Flaming Guns of the Purple Sage, a comedy by Jane Martin on the opening night of Thursday October 11, 2007 at Collin College Spring Creek Campus in the John Anthony Theatre. The play featured Sky McClure (Rob Bob), Lindsay Neinast (Shirl), Blake Blair (Black Dog), Colleen O’ Connor (Big Eight), Candice McEntruff (SheDevil), and Trey Tolleson (Baxter). The play took place in a small ranch near Casper, Wyoming. The play was performed on a one set type stage. The set included lots of details such as a fridge, butchers table (a symbol of death), sink, windows, stairs to go upstairs, a bathroom, closet, rocking chair, breakfast table, and guns on the walls. The set had good lighting and weather effects. The play started with pouring rain, and included background lightning and sound effects. The set also represented time of day well, with dark blue lights showing nighttime and bright florescent lights to represent daytime. There were many colors on the set; one that stood out was brown. The walls and furniture were all made out of wood, which represents the small town type look. The music in the play was interesting, there was soothing country music when only words were being spoken, and music to get you out of your seat when Black Dog was coming. The play had many modern techniques used as props, I especially remember the blood spewing out of Black Dog’s body when he was shot in two different portions of his body. The blood looked very real and made the play realistic. If one were to look at the audience after Black Dog was shot and lay there dead, I bet everyone had a concerned look on their face and were sitting at the edge of their seat. Part one of the play was slow moving, but after the intermission they play really began to pick up pace. For example, when the actors were trying to hide Black Dog’s body in the closet, their bodies and speech was filled with energy and passion. There were parts in the second half that made me almost jump out of my seat! For example, when Big Eight was shot by Rob Bob and Baxter. It was unexpected and loud. It really scared the hell out of me! The purpose of the play is to show Big Eight’s fight to keep her ranch and still remain an independent woman. Big Eight is represented as a self-reliant woman, who loves to rodeo and collect winning belts. She does not believe in modern medicine, and hates doctors. Her way of giving back to rodeo is by taking care of injured rodeo riders, and nursing them back to health using classical medicine practices. Colleen plays her role very well, her accent and body language suits her role perfectly. Overall, Flaming Guns of the Purple Sage is a good comedy. It included great dialog, and is action packed. Some parts of the play made one feel sad, while others had me jumping out of my seat. It felt sort of like a roller coaster ride. They actors suited theirs roles well, with the exception of Candice, because her body size and acting didn’t really suit her role. I personally enjoyed the play very much and would recommend it to anyone in the mood for some laughs and fun.