TAYLOR TEXAS by Candyce Rusk
Sunday, March 28 at 6:30 PM
Online (members, check reminder email on the 28th for link)
TAYLOR, TEXAS, a full-length play with music, is set in a semi-rural Texas town, 30 miles from Austin. Named for a railroad king and once booming with cotton gins, Taylor is now a vaunted barbeque destination. Old Bill’s Railroad Taproom & BBQ slowly decays under a highway ramp, regularly assaulted by the passing trains and high-minded tourists. Inside, the aging town regulars carry on, living alongside the myths of Americanism, the tale of country star Dottie West, and holding two secrets. One, the paternity of everyone’s son, Little Trouble, then, the mysterious ingredient in Old Bill’s barbeque sauce.
Candyce Lucien Rusk’s plays and musicals have been staged throughout the US and Dublin, including productions and workshop readings at the Minneapolis Playwrights Center, Hyde Park Theatre, Ground Floor Theatre, The Vortex, Creede Repertory Theater, and the Provincetown Theater. Candyce has garnered best of fest awards for ROSETTA, DICE, A SHINING ATTRIBUTE, and RIVERVIEW RITZ. LITTLE BABY TWO SHOES was adapted into a short film by filmmaker Paul Bright, and fringe plays I HUNGA and TWO TOUCANETS showcased by Glass Half Full Theatre’s Puppetry of Objects and Ideas. Current projects include the original musical ROSETTA (book and lyrics), based on the iconic guitarist and performer Rosetta Tharpe with composer Craig Toungate, and a contemporary new work set in the urbane but rurally principled town of TAYLOR, TEXAS. Candyce’s work is supported in part through multi-year funding through the Austin Cultural Division and ScriptWorks. A member of the Dramatists Guild, International Centre for Women Playwrights, Playwrights’ Center, HonorRoll, and ScriptWorks, Candyce lives in Austin, Texas.