Playwright: Andrew Hobgood, Will Cavedo and Benno Nelson. At: The New Colony at the Viaduct, 3111 N. Western. Phone: 773-296-6024; $25. Runs through: Aug. 7
When Europeans run away from home in search of adventure, they only have to travel 50 miles or so, but the United States is much bigger and its literary odysseys usually spread over more territory—a tour of the Deep South circa 1963, say, beginning in Fayetteville, Ga., then meandering west through the Alabama cities of Montgomery and Mobile, pausing a moment in Jackson, Miss., and winding up in—where else?—New Orleans. And they must be based, not just in escape, but a quest—in this case, a fatherless youth’s obsession with a string band named That Sordid Little Story, whose songs appear to be mysteriously connected to the identity of his missing sire.
If, as VH-1 says, every life story has a soundtrack, those choosing to be guided by the ballads of Appalachian troubadours must encounter vicissitudes: in the course of his journey, our young wayfarer bears witness to destructive hate and destructive love, chats with deceivers of the unwary and deceivers of themselves, falls prey to impulsive predators and impulsive benefactors, his frequent setbacks alleviated by unexpected wellsprings of kindness and compassion. Oh, and there are the stories—”You tell a good story, everything becomes more valuable,” insists a purveyor of fake antiques, while another fourflusher declares, “This is the South! You pay for things with stories,” as he slyly stiffs the waitress. Our young hero’s immigrant co-workers may tell their stories in a different language, but they are storytellers, just the same, with experiences composing another chapter in his progress to maturity—maybe.
And if every Road Saga aspires to Homeric proportions, New Colony co-authors Andrew Hobgood, Will Covedo and Benno Nelson cannot help but come up short of Dante or Milton, even if our orphan does turn out to be the spawn of lineage as divine as our age can provide. But theirs is still an engaging yarn, replete with colorful characters hinting at further intriguing histories (even when recounted in untranslated Spanish), and spurred by the down-home harmonies of the five-piece band led by composer/lyricist/music director Henry Riggs. That so richly textured a narrative as this can be packaged in a brief two and a half hours (with two intermissions) evidences the care and discipline invested in its execution.