The Last Stance
By MICHAEL SMITH, 2/15/2005
Joseph Gomez (left) as "Fort" and David Jefferis as "Karl" give a double-barrelled performance when the Midwestern Theater Troupe presents "Down the Ol' Hole" at the Nightingale Theater. MICHAEL WYKE/Tulsa World
Playwright cryptic about latest 'post-apocalyptic mind-melter'
It's never been easy for John Cruncleton to talk about his work. He believes in the school of thought that an artist is the last person who should be asked to describe their creations.
The playwright-director's latest original work, "Down the Ol' Hole," has this synopsis on his troupe's Web site: "In this post-apocalyptic mind-melter set in the not-too-distant future, a gang of cowboys gather for a last stand in the Ouachita hills. A poisoned well, a singing pig and a pesky little subterranean doppelganger are all part of the gunslingin' action."
Huh?
It goes on to make references to "a whiff of gunsmoke in a Greek temple," saying it's an "ageless psychodrama . . . flavored with classic Western style" and a "tangled nest of rococo super-pop pulp myth."
Which all means . . . what?
"I think the best way to experience a play is to let the plot points come up fresh," said Cruncleton, who never talks about any of his plays in great detail prior to opening. Even then, he enjoys leaving the final product open to an audience's interpretation.
"The play unravels as a mystery, and the revelations pile up until the end of the play, when the ultimate revelations are made. I hope people watch to see what happens."
It's easier, and certainly more comfortable, for the director and co-founder of Nightingale Theater to discuss his inspiration for the play's setting. His first play in 1995, "Baby of Abaddon Mountain," was inspired by the Ouachita Mountains, and he's revisited the site multiple times in his works.
"It's kind of a distancing technique. I always felt like it was important, if I was writing some kind of metaphysical fantasy, that I needed to ground it in some kind of specific terrain," he said. "Mountains and hills are kind of special anyways, and the Ouachitas are special to me."
Cruncleton visited the range with his father for many years, and it's hard for him to stop talking about their appeal, about his attraction to the solitude and freedom he finds there.
He calls the national forest land that stretches east from Talihina into central Arkansas "one of the golden areas of camping in America."
"That range of hills, I've kind of been exploring it for some time now. I kind of staked my claim to it 10 years ago as a writer," he said. "They're just little foothills, scrubby and charming. They don't overreach. They're green. They just sort of evoke a kind of twilight. It's a place where you still get a feel for undiscovered country."
Which makes the mountain range a setting that's open to interpretation by any audience, further explaining the attraction for the playwright.
Preview
"DOWN THE OL' HOLE"
Who:
Midwestern Theater Troupe
When:
8 p.m. Thursday-Saturday, also 8 p.m. Feb. 24-26
Where:
Nightingale Theater, 1416 E. Fourth St.
Tickets:
$8, may be reserved by calling 583-8487 [As of February 2007, 633-8666]