T-Bone and Weasel are best buds. They are also car thieves, driving through the backroads of South Carolina, in a stolen Buick. T-Bone (Kenne Earle) is African American and Weasel (Travis Cook) is white. T-Bone is “the brains of the operation”, and Weasel might have been dropped on his head as an infant. During their non-heroic odyssey, they encounter a liquor store owner, a cantankerous car lot proprietor, a redneck sheriff, a corrupt politician, a sex-starved cougar, a crazy guy living under a bridge, all played by Carter Frost. Early in the show, T-Bone decides a liquor store will be easy pickings. The two go inside and between unbelievably bad luck, and a litany of Weasel’s missed opportunities, the heist is a dismal failure. Subsequent eventualities only add to their ordeal. An insatiable dowager. A pathological hobo. A politician media whore. Or was that a pathological politician and a media whore hobo?
T-Bone and Weasel plays like a fusion of Dukes of Hazzard and In the Heat of the Night. Playwright Jon Klein exploits Bible Belt tropes, but resists the temptation to to use them only for cheap laffs. (A second cousin of Flannery O’Connor, if you will.) Each encounter aims a magnifying glass on the darker side Southern Christianity and hospitality. Klein takes the time to set caricatures aside for better realized characters. He injects ethical quandaries into the mix, giving us a deeper understanding of T-Bone and Weasel’s better and less admirable qualities. As we might expect, he explores racism and the choices this demands of the two friends. He doesn’t settle for compromise or derivation or stock routines. He gives us time and space for reflection and appreciation of detail. The exigencies of human frailty.
There is nothing quite like The Pocket Sandwich Theatre experience. The cast and crew go out of their way to make us comfortable and welcome. The minimal sets and curtain speeches only enhance our pleasure and enjoyment. PST gives us triple helpings of merriment and glee, all while maintaining wise precautions. T-Bone and Weasel is a surprising piece of theatre, contemplation in goofy comedy clothes. The cast is dedicated, agile and ready to play. Special nod to Carter Frost for his acrobatic acting skills.
The Pocket Sandwich Theatre presents T-Bone and Weasel playing March 5th-April 17th, 2021. 5400 East Mockingbird Lane, Suite 119, Dallas, Texas 75206. 214-821-1860. www.pocketsandwich.com