Published: September 22, 2009 04:45 pm      

Buck Creek Players open 36th season

INDIANAPOLIS — The Buck Creek Players will open their 36th season “On the Home Front” with Jane Martin’s comedy, “Flaming Guns of the Purple Sage,” opening Oct. 2 and running for three weekends through Oct. 18. 

Curtain times are 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, with 2:30 p.m. matinees on Sundays. All performances are at the Buck Creek Playhouse, 11150 Southeastern Ave., on the southeast side of Marion County. Admission is $14 for adults and $12 for students and senior citizens ages 62 and older. Seats may be reserved by calling the playhouse reservation line at 862-2270. 

Big 8 (Jolene Mentink Moffatt), a bitter critter, is facing foreclosure on the Wyoming ranch where she rehabilitates injured rodeo cowboys. The arrival of a shocking woman named Shedevil (Carrie Schlatter) and a one-eyed Ukrainian biker named Black Dog (Joe Steiner) ushers in outrageous violence and horror in this shoot ‘em up, knock ‘em up, cut ‘em up comic romp that roasts the cowboy mentality of western writers like Zane Grey. Showcasing the antic side of this prolific, award-winning playwright, this bodacious and macabre cross-over comedy mixes horror and hilarity as it pits the code of the West against contemporary darkness. Imagine Hopalong Cassidy dating Stephen King’s Carrie, or Miss Kitty chasing Chuckie through an Addams Family version of “Gunsmoke.” Completing the ensemble cast is Pete Lindblom as Rob Bob, Kimberly Ruse as Shirl, Paul Hansen as Baxter Blue, and Ray Gregoire as Memphis Donnie Pride.

Due to adult situations, language, and comedic violence, this production is recommended for mature audiences only.

Parrish Williams returns at the helm of this production after directing BCP’s award-winning “How I Learned to Drive” in 2003. Assisting Williams on the production team are Phyllis Ann Arthur (producer), Joanne Johnson (lighting designer), Lea Viney (set designer and technical director), Linda Rowand (costumer), Brianna Rae Williams (assistant to the director/sound designer), and Patrick Banks (stage manager).

For more information or directions to the playhouse, visit the theater’s website at www.buckcreekplayers.com.