Guns and whiskey close out Modesto’s Prospect Theater season

A little gun-toting, some whiskey drinking and a classic tale of good vs. evil closes Prospect Theater Project’s 2016-17 season.

The Modesto theater company stages “The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance,” Jethro Compton’s adaptation of the tale that’s familiar to most as the 1962 John Ford film starring John Wayne and Jimmy Stewart. The play runs July 7 through July 23.

The story brings together a city slicker, a vicious outlaw and a saloon proprietress in a play reimagined for the stage that uses the Ford film along with the original 1953 short story by Dorothy M. Johnson to weave the action, according to a press release from Prospect.

In the production, an educated East Coast native, Ransome Foster, travels west to the town of Twotrees in search of a new life, but instead is beaten and left to die by notorious outlaw Liberty Valance. Foster is rescued by gunslinger Bert Barricune, who drags Foster to the Prairie Belle, a saloon in Twotrees headed by proprietress Hallie Jackson.

While Barricune has his eyes on Jackson, Foster’s entrance into the picture complicates any thought of romance with the strong, independent woman.

“Foster’s arrival in Twotrees is a harbinger of change for the residents of this little border town, and each character has their own point of view as to just what that change means for them,” according to the press release. “The story as retold by Compton bears hallmarks of the hero’s journey – a man in search of something greater than himself, who goes out into the wide world, only to be met by trials and allies who shape his path – but it also has threads of the great Arthurian love triangle throughout.”

The Prospect production features company veterans Joel Eddington-Morrison as Ransome Foster and Michael Hewitt as Marshal Johnson; Melissa Dawn plays Hallie Jackson and Adam Torrian is Jim “The Reverend” Mosten. Other cast members include Playhouse Merced actor Jim Kocher, Jordan Sanchez, Scott Davis, Nestor Cervantes and Ryan Holloway.

Liberty Valance is played by Eric Watkins, who recently returned to the Central Valley from UCLA. Prospect’s Founding Artistic Director Jack Souza directs this final show of the current season; Souza also designed and built the sets and created the lighting design.

This story was originally published June 29, 2017 at 12:35 PM with the headline "Guns and whiskey close out Modesto’s Prospect Theater season."