TheatreWorks, Hartford, CT
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| Photo: Curtis Brown Photography |
through August 30, 2026
By Jarice Hanson
TheaterWorks Hartford has mounted a play that is disturbing, violent, and very current. Four outstanding actors tell the story that unfolds before the audience’s eyes with honesty and full commitment.
Playwright Drew Larimore’s note in the playbill explains that this show is part one of a trilogy he is writing that he classifies as “Southern Gothic.” The characters each have backstories of abuse, lies, poverty and disappointment, and Larimore workshopped the play with the four actors over a two-year process, undoubtedly learning each actor’s strengths and mining their ability to behave like disparate members of the community that has seen better days in McGower County in West Texas.
Director Jen Wineman finds humor at the right moments but never allows the story to get silly or lose its momentum. Instead, the story emerges like an onion, shedding its skin and drawing one deeper into the human condition. There are twists and turns aplenty, and many of them unexpected. If this show had men at the center of the action it would be just another treatment of men behaving badly, but because two of the leads in this ensemble piece are women of a certain age, the behaviors are unexpected and shockingly powerful.
Anchoring the play are two gifted actresses, Annalee Jefferies as “Lindalyn,” a curmudgeonly woman who seems bitter and unfulfilled. She walks with a cane and a limp—signs of an injury that never healed correctly. Constance Shulman as “Viola” seems simple-minded but loyal to Lindalyn, who she’s known most of her life. The two women are wonderful together, especially as they enter the broken-down diner wearing what looks like miners' hats with headlamps, planning to steal whatever they can sell.
Costumes by Alejo Vietti tell the story of their personalities, and Tim Mackabee’s set design gives them plenty of props on the realistic set that looks like a deserted bar in a place where no one wants to live.
The young lovers are Gus Birney as “Sarah Nell,” a sweet, beautiful girl who hasn’t had much life experience, and Edward Hoke as Blaze" who comes from privilege and has purchased the old bar.
What do these two have in common besides a load of chemistry and passion? That’s where the story that brings these four people together starts to get juicy.
There are more sudden shifts in tone than could be described in this summary, but that would spoil the moment-by-moment pleasure of the audiences’ discovery of these characters and the lives of the three women who try to guard a lifetime of secrets.
“Cannibals of McGower County” is not a perfect play (yet), but this is an excellent production and shows the promise of the character-driven study that emerges as the story spirals deeper and deeper. This creative cast and production team work seamlessly together to reach into the audience’s collective soul and remind us that there are places in this country that have suffered from ignorance and poverty.
McGower County is a place where even people who mean well, are sometimes damaged and dangerous.
Constance Shulman and Annalee Jefferies in "Cannibals of McGower County"
