Last Train to Nibroc by Arlene Hutton and directed by Mark Edward Smith is at the Mad Cow Theater (54 W Church St, Orlando, FL 32801) through March 8, 2020. The play begins with May (Alexandra Rose Horton) reading a book on a train on December 28, 1940 somewhere west of Chicago. A soldier named Raleigh (Dalton Hedrick) asked if he can be seated next to her. The set was spartan and simple, the train seat to house right from where I was seated, a curved bench center stage and then May’s front porch on house right.
May was a petite and powerful woman. She and Raleigh both spoke with thick and round Kentucky accents. Raleigh considered himself an author. He asked May about the book she was reading. She said it was religious, but he seemed convinced it was a romance. She had traveled across the country to visit a boyfriend who had entered the service. That trip had gone horribly, he wasn’t who she thought he was. There was a playful banter between the two who were from the same part of Kentucky. Raleigh wanted to go to the big city to start his writing career but after meeting May he decided to return to their home town. On that fated train trip he asked May if she would go with him to the Nibroc festival if he decided to stay in Kentucky.
The middle staging area had the couple meeting at a state fair. Raleigh was dressed in farmers overalls and his prospects for the future seemed dim in the back woods rural town. The friendship sparked on the train had also soured but the two though throwing jabs at each other clearly seemed to care about where life might take them. Each of them was flawed but proud. They grew on me because of their frankness and hopes for a better life. It made me wonder at the myriad of ways that my ancestors might have met and fallen in love through the centuries. This was the first of three plays in a trilogy by the Florida native author.
Last Train to Nibroc by Arlene Hutton
Mad Cow Theater 54 W Church St, Orlando, FL 32801
Tickets: $30 – $42
Key Themes: Romance, choices, consequences
Age Recommendation: 13+
Run-time: Approx. 90 minutes with no intermission
Remaining Show Dates:
03/01/2020 03:00 PM (Sunday)
03/04/2020 08:00 PM (Wednesday)
03/05/2020 08:00 PM (Thursday)
03/06/2020 08:00 PM (Friday)
03/07/2020 08:00 PM (Saturday)
03/08/2020 03:00 PM (Sunday)