The Yard Theatre’s autumn season, entitled ‘Heaven Is A Place On Earth’, starts with a tale set in south Texas, ‘The Many Apologies of Pecos Bill’.
Created by Greg Wohead, with music by Mat Martin, this charming little series of stories jumps backwards and forwards between the outlandish escapades of the imaginary Pecos Bill (reared by coyotes when he fell off the back of his parent’s wagon) and the rather more realistic experiences of Greg himself, mostly drawing on the awkwardness of being a teen and set against the backdrop of the terrifying wooden rollercoaster at the Six Flags amusement park. Greg’s fascinating monologues are enriched by the gentle picking of a banjo by his accompanist – it’s a great amalgamation of dialogue and sound. When the lights went up at the end I was surprised not to find myself in a country barn…
‘The Many Apologies of Pecos Bill’ was set against another monologue, this time by John-Luke Roberts – ‘Sock Puppet’. John-Luke can usually be found writing for Radio 4′s popular News Quiz presented by Sandy Toksvig, and his recent solo show ‘Distracts You From A Murder’ got a rave review from the Independent. Another rather bizarre story this features Ralph and his pact with a haunted sock, but everyone knows that doing a deal with the devil always ends in disaster – hilarity and grim consequences ensue…
‘The Many Apologies of Pecos Bill’ and ‘Sock Puppet’ have their final performance this Friday, 29 September, so get in there quick if you want to see them. The rest of the season consists of similar suitable pairings, with ‘Puffball’ and ‘All One Fabric’ following on 29 and 30 September, ‘Requiem’ and ‘At Least We Tried’ on 2 to 4 October, and four further shows. There are full details of the performances taking place as part of the ‘Heaven Is A Place On Earth’ festival on the Yard Theatre’s website.
About Pete Stean
