Dorothy Johnson

Review: JULIUS CAESAR at The Weekend Theater

What did our critic think of JULIUS CAESAR at The Weekend Theater?

BWW Review: Brilliant American Premiere of THE MAN WHO SHOT LIBERTY VALANCE Extends One Week Until March 26

How often do you see an American western onstage? Especially one that was a famous John Ford film in 1952 The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance. Both the film and the stage play are adapted from a short story by Dorothy Johnson about the American west in 1890-1910. The names of the characters in the film are slightly different from those in the play, but the plot is basically the same. What seem to matter more than plot are the historical, cultural, political themes that the story exudes. Now onstage at the Rubicon Theatre in Ventura, in its American premiere, The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance is helmed by uber skilled director Jenny Sullivan and boasts a stellar cast, but you only have one more week to catch it, through March 20.

BWW Interview: Jenny Sullivan of THE MAN WHO SHOT LIBERTY VALANCE at Rubicon Theatre Company

The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance was originally a short story penned in 1953 by Dorothy M. Johnson (1905 - 1984), who wrote numerous articles and stories with Western themes. In 1962, Valance was adapted for motion pictures in a blockbuster film directed by John Ford and starring John Wayne, James Stewart, and Lee Marvin, in the title role of the sadistic gunslinger who is taken on by Stewart, who portrayed a tenderfoot attorney new to the dusty town of Shinbone. Jethro Compton's new stage play is based on the short story instead of the movie, getting its start in England in 2014. The Rubicon Theatre Company's new production marks the play's American debut, starring Gregory Harrison in the role of Bert Barricune, the equivalent of John Wayne's Tom Doniphon in the film. Reviews of the play have called it 'gripping drama' and 'consistently absorbing.' We spoke with Jenny Sullivan, who is directing Rubicon's production and she talked about the process of presenting a subject that has become much more famous through the film adaptation than for the original story.