SceneShop “Like the Song Says…” @ Arts Fifth Avenue, Fort Worth
—Jan Farrington
It felt like the Old Days (mostly) in the tin-ceilinged space of Arts Fifth Avenue, still the venue for SceneShop, a mix of short new works from local playwrights that from 1996 until the pandemic was a perennial, laid-back, and usually quite enjoyable theater tradition under founding artistic director Steven Alan McGaw.
And the good vibes continue, with music before and between the two segments of the show. Great guitarist Bruce Payne played and sang some fine tunes; WillieNatra (w/ Bob Francis) plays for the two performances next weekend.
In fact, the Shop’s six scenes might well less of a mix than a “medley,” as this edition’s theme (“Like the Song Says…”) challenged playwrights to play off or connect with one or more songs that hold meaning (of any kind) to the writers. I won’t spoil the fun by pinpointing the song selections; some were lightly linked to the story line, others central to it—but it worked as a way to add resonance to these short pieces.
Five different playwrights’ had work in the lineup: Straton Rushing, Natalie Gaupp, Joshua Eguia/Tyler Moore, and Steven McGaw. And while some pieces felt fairly loose in form and style, others went beyond the work-in-progress stage, and on to a slightly more polished state of dramatic being.
Moore and Eguia’s joint effort, “Mondegreens: What You Thought They Said,” collects cards from audience members and friends about pop song lyrics they’ve mangled or mis-understood—and adds this improvised material to their own quirky “set” script.) Rushing’s “That Dog”(performed by Susan van Belkum and newcomer Nadine Villareal, with vital input from Eguia), is set in a small-town dog pound where we witness an offbeat, sometimes funny meet-up of lost souls, not necessarily of the same species. And Natalie Gaupp’s twangy, heart-touching “Lucky Star” pairs Debby Dacus and Peggy Bott Kirby as Texas lady friends (Wanda/Kirby runs an in-garage beauty shop; Kim/Dacus has “gone feral” during the lockdown, and needs a miracle makeover for a big event that night) who find their priorities changing, and their bond getting stronger, as Wanda opens up to Kim about what’s happening with her favorite grandchild.
The show’s second half presented three solo pieces. In Rushing’s “Caprice” a divorced and lonely good old boy (McGaw) tells us a shaggy tale about a moon rocket made from a 1984 Caprice Classic. (“Who’s dumb trailer trash now, Miss Fitzgibbons?”) It’s a wild story, but somehow, we can’t stop listening. “Purple Sky,” written and performed by McGaw (and possibly by Steven Cashion next weekend), is a boyhood story about a kid, his dad, and a guy they meet in a burger joint. The recurring song, the details of “back then”—and the emotions—make this one stand out. And McGaw’s “Just For One Day,” performed by Rob Bosquez, is the remembered story of a special teacher—well written, well performed.
SceneShop will continue next weekend with two performances—and has an entry (its fourth) in the upcoming Fort Worth Fringe Festival running September 8-11 at the Fort Worth Community Arts Center (the old Modern Art Museum/Scott Theatre complex). The play is called Lived In; it’s the story of a house rehab—and maybe a haunting. Written by McGaw, directed by Bosquez, featuring Ron Fernandez, festival schedule TBA.
WHEN: SceneShop August 12, 13; Fort Worth Fringe September 8-11
WHERE: SceneShop/Arts Fifth Avenue; Fringe, Fort Worth Community Arts Center
WEB: For SceneShop tickets, go to: artsfifthave.org
