Drew Larimore’s The Cannibals of McGower County takes us to an abandoned barbecue restaurant in a West Texas ghost town, where longtime friends Lindalyn and Viola have broken in to scavenge whatever they can carry out and sell. Their routine is interrupted when Sarah Nell, Lindalyn’s adopted daughter, arrives with her boyfriend Blaze, who has just purchased the town and plans to build a future there. Before long, old family secrets, resentment and one very bad night start colliding.
There’s a lot in Larimore’s script that I liked. The premise is terrific, the Southern dialogue has bite, and the relationships keep shifting in ways that make you reconsider what you thought you knew about these people. The play gets stranger and darker as it goes, and I could see exactly why this material has been described as Southern Gothic.
Annalee Jefferies makes Lindalyn a fascinating presence. She’s funny, sharp and controlling, but there’s enough underneath all of that to keep her from becoming a simple villain. Constance Shulman brings real vulnerability to Viola, particularly as the history between these women starts coming apart. Gus Birney gives Sarah Nell a growing sense of strength, while Edward Hoke leans into Blaze’s slightly ridiculous cowboy bravado without pushing it too far.
My problem is that for a play with this much danger built into it, the performance I saw rarely felt dangerous.
The evening takes a little time to get moving, and I was fine with that at first. Spending time with Lindalyn and Viola helps establish their relationship and gives some of the later revelations more weight. Once the story turns, though, I kept waiting for the production to tighten the screws - it never quite did.
Even as secrets came out and the stakes became higher, much of the performance stayed at roughly the same temperature. Scenes that should have felt desperate or volatile often remained surprisingly calm. I understood that these characters were in trouble, but I didn’t always feel it.
That became especially noticeable during the physical confrontations later in the play. One involving Viola, Lindalyn and a cast-iron skillet should be a jolt. At the performance I attended, the staging of that moment wasn’t especially believable, and instead of reacting to what had happened, I found myself thinking about how it was being performed.
That’s where the disconnect became frustrating for me, because Larimore’s script gives the actors plenty to play with. These women are carrying years of anger, guilt, resentment and secrets. By the time everything starts spilling out, the room should feel like it could explode. I could see that version of the play sitting there, but I didn’t consistently feel it onstage.
Tim Mackabee’s set helps enormously. The abandoned Spit Pit looks like a place that has been sitting untouched for years, and the decaying restaurant gives the whole production the right visual world. It feels forgotten before the characters even begin digging up everything that should have stayed buried.
Maybe I caught an unusually subdued performance. Theater is live, and performances shift. Still, I can only review the show I saw, and on this particular night, The Cannibals of McGower County had the secrets, violence and twists of a thriller without quite generating the tension needed to make them land.
There’s a good, strange play here, and I’m curious to see where Larimore takes McGower County next, but I wish this first visit had made my pulse race a little more.
⭐️⭐️⭐️1/2
The Cannibals of McGower County runs through August 30 at TheaterWorks Hartford
233 Pearl Street
Hartford, Connecticut.
For tickets and information: twhartford.org
CAST:
Annalee Jefferies - Lindalyn
Constance Shulman - Viola
Gus Birney - Sarah Nell
Edward Hoke - Blaze
CREATIVE:
Drew Larimore - Playwright
Jen Wineman - Director
Tim Mackabee - Set Design
Alejo Vietti - Costume Design
Jiyoun Chang - Lighting Design
Bailey Trielweiler - Sound Design
J. Jared Janas - Wig Design
Michael Rossmy - Fight Director and Intimacy Coordinator
Alldaffer and Donadio Casting - Casting
pau - Stage Manager
Curtis Brown - Production Photography