Sam Shepard’s ‘The Mad Dog Blues’ @ Hip Pocket Theatre

Photos by Shannon Atkinson

—Jan Farrington

What’s that odd sensation called—when you’re stopped in traffic, the train or bus next to you starts up—and your brain thinks you’re the one who’s on the move? That’s the dizzy, lingering effect of taking in Hip Pocket Theatre’s The Mad Dog Blues, a rockin’ and rollin’ Looney Tunes of a show from playwright Sam Shepard, whose very young head (it was the ‘70s, enough said) was bursting with an American boy’s mental clutter: movie cowboys and gangsters, folk heroes, blonde screen goddesses—oh, and a pirate—all, inevitably, on a quest toward some kind of national dream life.

The frenetic cast of characters run up and down the narrow paths of a stage space set up in the “Back Yard” of Hip Pocket. They’re in front of us, behind, across—and we’re sure our chairs are zipping along with them. This isn’t the familiar amphitheatre setting of Hip Pocket’s shows, and on a thundery opening night, it was a delightful surprise.

Confused yet? Don’t sweat the details, just grab a cold one and prepare to have a blast. Mad Dog Blues begins HPT’s 49th season—and the lineup of shows this summer and fall are old favorites from the company’s long history. Veteran Hip Pocketeers might remember Mad Dog from the first few seasons (mid-to-late 1970s).

Essentially, The Mad Dog Blues is a crowded, cross-genre buddy movie, centered on Kosmo (Colin McThorn), a rambunctious con man who “strikes like a serpent,” according to his gangster-ish partner Yahoodi (Ron Fernandez), who keeps his eyes on the prize (money or “girls”). The cast gathers for an opening number (composed by Chris Curtis, who also wrote interlude music plus tunes to accompany lyrics by playwright Shepard in other songs). The “hoist the sail” welcoming song is all rowdy melody and found instruments, and some characters introduce themselves to others as they exit. “I’m an artist,” says one. “I’m a lumberjack,” says the other. “See ya around!”

Still confused? “Snap out of it!” (as Cher would say in a different context). The guys are chasing after loot and ladies—a drawling fella named Waco Texas (Tyler Manley) makes a hilarious fifth-wheel who won’t stop tagging along—and the two gals who attach themselves to the group (Sara Rashelle and Claire Fountain, both fabulous) are gutsy, femme-fatale screen idols from way back, a pair of incandescent platinum blondes. The double-dating foursome speak in fluent movie banter: “If you take me for a trolley ride / I’ll take you for everything you’ve got….”

The cast is entirely wonderful, acting the heck out of these strange but all-American roles and legends. Director Cranshaw was in the seats on opening night, cheering them on. The energy and coming timing that she and the cast infuse into Mad Dog will keep your engine running for a spell (and your face breaking into a grin, even if you aren’t aware your subconscious is still enjoying last night’s performance).

Small groups of characters split off into their own mad chases throughout the twisting story—across the desert, in the jungle, on a shark-ringed island, aboard a pirate ship commanded by the bandy-legged Captain Kidd (inventive, classically trained clown Grainger Esch). Curtis’ lively tunes chime in to let us catch our breaths once in a while, but mostly, the actors gallop round and round the HPT yard and outbuildings.

Shepherd’s show is way more action than thought, but it works just fine to keep us shaking our heads and laughing our butts off. And there’s a Large Puppet Creature, of course (it wouldn’t be Hip Pocket without at least one per show) that needs 3-4 humans to get him around.

I hate not to pin the characters’ names on the cast members, but I’m not going to spoil this wacky plot. Enough to say that Austin Creswell and Cameron Martinez are wonderful too—as another pair of American legends—with Lindsey Sinopoli as a girl who might be see-through, or might not, but who embodies all the tough-talking dames of the movies we loved in the first half of the old century.

Later on in his character, Sam Shepard grew into a more organized playwright (sort of), but here, he’s purely writing down a gussied-up version of what’s in his brain: I’d love to be a cowboy or a gangster, my friends and I have a band, we do some drugs, we watch old movies, we love the ladies…and if I think of sharks, I’ll put them in the show too.

Composer Curtis plays his songs amiably, and keeps the lively (but not overbearing) music sliding through the show. Stage manager Harper Caroline Lee probably needs oxygen after every mile-a-minute performance. Susan Austin’s costumes are imaginative expressions of every character. Puppet designer Vermont Horner makes an impact with his Creature (who turns out to have a surprise link to the story). Kudos, in fact, to everyone who contributed to The Mad Dog Blues’ twisting, turning “trolley ride.”

I’ll admit I admire the slightly older Sam Shepard more as a playwright—but this wild and crazy young guy’s story is major fun to watch, especially from a stretch of breezy Texas scrub land, with a distant thunderstorm lighting the dark skies. A fine old Hip Pocket night.

WHEN: May 16-June 8, 2025
WHERE: HPT, 1950 Silver Creek Road, Fort Worth
WEB: hippocket.org