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London Frontier Theatre Company Coming Attractions DARK MOON OVER LOST WIFE CREEK A phantom hound, a strange night visitor, and a road that never goes twice to the same place – what haunts Lost Wife Creek? And who was the "lost wife" for whom the area was named? Long the source of local gossip and legend, will her true fate ever be known? On a dark night in October, 1935, Manny (Aragon) is frantic, searching everywhere for wife Ruby, careening along winding back-country roads in his rusty flivver with friend Cass (Trotter) hanging on for dear life. Accompanying them is young Ambrosia, refuge from an Orphan Train and master of the tall tale (also known as "fibbing"). But the familiar road doesn't seem to lead home – or to anywhere they've been before. Are they being followed, and if so, by what? Meanwhile, Gardy Trotter, waiting by lamplight in her isolated farm kitchen, is startled by the appearance of an odd but fascinating new neighbor. The inter-twining stories – from ridiculous (Manny’s latest “great idea”) to despairing (a marital spat), hopeful (young Ambrosia) to touching (an undying love) – are endearingly, frustratingly human, but with an eerie touch of "something other" reaching out to touch their lives, and ours: perfect entertainment for an autumn evening near Halloween and Dias de los Muertos. DARK MOON, a complete play in itself, is part of the popular Lost Wife Creek series, reviewed as "Hilarious, nostalgic, historic, thoroughly enjoyable... with sure and true ensemble acting", while New Mexico Magazine likened it to “the ‘Honeymooners’ meet the ‘Waltons.’” It continues the saga of the Aragones & the Trotters – who came to life in THE LUCK OF LOST WIFE CREEK – as they carry on in the Great Depression, 1930's rural New Mexico, the misadventures rollicking along to lively bluegrass banjo. London Frontier Theatre, now in its historic WPA venue and twelfth season in Magdalena, continues to present a wide variety of plays, incorporating our vivid multi-cultural heritage for exciting, entertaining theatre. Actors in DARK MOON are Sarah Kate Gallaher, Frank Howard, Ruth Ryan, Donna Todd, and Donald Wiltshire, all of Magdalena, and Fernando Montano of Socorro. Wiltshire is also LFTC’s set/ lighting director, and Greg Vivian executes lights and sound. Performances are Friday, October 26th and Saturday, October 27th, both at 7:00 PM, with a matinee on Sunday, October 28th at 2:00 PM, and again on Saturday, November 3rd, at 7:00 PM, and Sunday, November 4th at 2:00 PM. Performances are at Magdalena’s historic WPA Theatre on Main at Fourth Street. Tickets are $3.50 for adults, $2.00 for children under twelve, and are available at the door one hour prior to performance, and by Reservation (recommended) at (505) 854-2519 or londonfrontier@gilanet.com. This project is funded in part by the Kerr Foundation of Oklahoma, the McCune Foundation of Santa Fe, Socorro Electric Cooperative, & LFTC’s “Friends of the Theatre." London Frontier Theatre, now in its twelfth season in Magdalena, has created and presented over 40 productions, including 10 episodes of the popular "LOST WIFE CREEK" series, set in rural New Mexico in the Great Depression era. LFTC offers a variety of plays from original scripts, ensemble work, and adaptations of literary classics and contemporary writings, incorporating the area's vivid multi-cultural history to create exciting, entertaining theatre. Since making Magdalena its home in 1996, London Frontier Theatre Company has presented over 35 original productions, including 10 episodes of the popular "LOST WIFE CREEK" series, set in rural New Mexico in the Great Depression era. LFTC offers a variety of plays from original scripts, ensemble work, and adaptations of literary classics and contemporary writings, incorporating the area's vivid multi-cultural history to create exciting, entertaining theatre. Major funding for this project is by the Kerr Foundation, the McCune Charitable Foundation,
Socorro Electric Cooperative, and LFTC’s “Friends of the Theatre.”
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HISTORY of LONDON FRONTIER THEATRE LFTC's first presentation in New Mexico, STAGECOACH TO DECAMERON (for Magdalena"s Old Timers Days, 1996) was adapted from Boccaccio"s 14th-C. Italian Decameron Tales to the 1870's West. The stories, romantic to madly farcical, played to enthusiastic response. LONG ROAD, FREE WIND (Nov., '96) dramatized lives of frontier women, while the Feb., '97 show left the West to recreate Dorothy Parker's urbane, witty 1920's New York in YOU MIGHT AS WELL LIVE. THE TREASURE OF MAGDALENA MOUNTAIN (July '97) wove legends of treasure and its seekers with Magdalena's Lady on the Mountain. THAT DAMNED POE was an eerie blend of Poe's life/writings, and '97 ended with THE LONG RIDE OF ST. NICK, (reviewed as) "a darkly different comedy with hauntingly sincere performances." ONE WAGON WEST OF NOWHERE – the adventures, romances, and hilarious misconceptions of two women joining forces to come West – was Old Timers '98 fare. Revived by popular demand in March, 2000, it again played to full houses/ delighted audiences. COME HOME FOR CHRISTMAS, JESSEE was '98's nostalgic holiday play. An entertainment with music, THE LADY THAT"S KNOWN LOU (from R. Service poem) was part of the Spring Arts Festival; WHO SHOT SCOTT? '99) was a farcical play-within-a-play; and 1999's seasonal play, AND TO ALL A GOOD NIGHT! combined legends of Christmas, Chanukah, Winter Solstice, and Navajo dancers in a wildly-funny yet touching re-telling of the Great Story. Stories by Mark Twain, Bret Harte, and Owen Wister were staged in LEGENDS OF THE LOST FRONTIER (July, 2000). THE DEVIL RODE WEST offered ghostly tales from New Mexico"s Hispanic/Anglo/Navajo lore. November"s dramatization of local author P. V. Ford"s story, IN THE LURCH, received rave reviews; and LONG RIDE returned, with added music, as holiday fare. Serial theatre began in March, 2001, when the Aragons and Trotters came to life in THE LUCK OF LOST WIFE CREEK, set in 1930's rural NM. Roosevelt"s New Deal has begun; dreams of lost gold, stardom in "talkies" and a Spanish land-grant vie with reality of drought, a n"er-do-well son, and a decrepit old flivver, all rollicking along to bluegrass banjo. LUCK was also Old Timers fare, with an added act of "previews" of upcoming episodes. TREASURE returned, with script development, in Oct., 2001; a review called it "a witty and imaginative piece...well worthy of constant revival." THE TRAIL OF LONESOME TREE: A Lost Wife Creek Christmas was (review) "A lovely play...acting was straight and true....set and lighting excellent and evocative." LOVE COMES TO LOST WIFE CREEK (Feb, 2001), was followed by DON QUIXOTE OF LWC and MAY DAY! ON LWC. July"s play was a satirical Historical Epic, ENCHANTMENT! The series continued in Oct. with DARK MOON OVER LWC, and 2002 ended with WANDERING STAR and LITTLE GLORY, A LWC Christmas. An expanded version, with ballads, of LONG ROAD, FREE WIND opened the 2003 season and toured, including a benefit performance for the Lincoln Co. Historical Society. For Old Timers, A LAND WITHOUT FENCES mixed tales of the Old West with modern NM and the lives of a boy and his grandmother with Alzheimers. LUCK reappeared in Sept., followed by FIDDLERS HARVEST ON LWC, and a lively new version of GOOD NIGHT! gave a particularly New Mexican slant – Saint, Shepherd, Outlaw, La Llorona, Jewish Elf, and DanceHall Christmas Fairy – to the holiday season. LOVE COMES TO LWC opened the 2004 season, followed by the nostalgic LWC MEMORIES. STAGECOACH returned in July, to acclaim: "I'm still reeling over your production! What an incredible performance. You just always blow me away but this one definitely was the best! Wow!" (Gwen Roath, Editor, STEPPIN" OUT.) The Dias de los Muertos/Halloween show, FULL WAGON FROM ETERNITY, resurrected NM"s restless ghosts, from Coronado to Kit Carson, O"Keefe to Mabel Dodge Luhan, La Llorona to ancient tribal spirits of the Enchanted Land. "Small-house, experimental theatre at its best" was a reviewer"s accolade soon after the theatre was founded in Salt Lake City, Utah, in 1991. Magdalena"s resident theatre since 1996, LFTC creates and presents a wide variety of plays, adapted to its Western setting, from original scripts, ensemble work, and adaptations of literary classics and contemporary writings, incorporating the area's vivid multi-cultural history to create exciting, entertaining theatre. Presentations are at Magdalena"s historic WPA Gym, which LFTC is in the process of purchasing – a permanent home for London Frontier Theatre Company. |