Gladys runs a truck stop with lots of good stuff including a festive bar with tropical décor (and of course) candy, snacks, hot food (and gas masks?). She lives on the premises in Truth or Consequences New Mexico. It’s clear she hasn’t seen any business in a long time, though she’s fine on her own. She and Uncle Frank, the postman, are great friends. Though the mass (government imposed) exodus has diminished the populace, Frank still faithfully delivers to those left. Her grown daughter Zelda, aches to explore the desolate, realm of totalitarian conquest, convinced that there’s something more and sublime outside the truckstop. A shuttle will arrive tomorrow to carry off the last holdouts but Gladys, Frank and Zelda aren’t budging.
Crystal Jackson’s The Last Truck Stop is a carefully constructed evocation of dystopia. The regime wears the mask of benevolence (after Orwell’s 1984) but intrudes upon privacy and independence. These souls, discouraged and worn down, have found a safe place where they can appreciate each other and find refuge from the crumbling facade of civilization. Gladys wants Zelda to take the shuttle to El Paso, but as much as Zelda despises New Mexico, she’s convinced El Paso is worse. Then everything takes a turn.
Jackson suggests an intense ache, with no detectable sturm und drang. Gladys, Frank and Zelda are making the best, but it’s as if they’re circling the abyss. Facing the actual, but never bitter. Yet there are small assertions of hope. The sense of purpose they embrace. The staticky radio always left on. The letters always carried. The lovemaking that defies despair. Its about hope, but not some abstract, nebulous category of feelings.
The Last Truck Stop finds eloquence in the unspoken. Very little of the character’s damage and sorrow is articulated in so many words. There’s so much emptiness, so much thriving quashed. Jackson has found a delicate balance between palpable resignation and just enough optimism to conquer despondence.
Claire Carson is whimsical and gung ho as Rainbow. Kat Lozano is testy (and more tenderhearted than we might guess) as Zelda (daughter of Gladys). Jamal Sterling shines as the warm, convivial Uncle Frank. Diane Box Worman gives a poignant, emotionally fearless performance as Gladys. Her sorrow, her toughness, her exquisite, raw nerved presence is deeply affecting and unforgettable.
Kitchen Dog Theater presents The Last Truck Stop, playing June 8th-25th, 2023. 2600 North Stemmons Freeway, Suite 180, Dallas, Texas 75207. 214-953-1055. Admin@kitchendogtheater.org