Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

Last call for death row

OnStage Playhouse's Coyote on a Fence closes this weekend

Shane Ruddick Allen and Larry E. Fox
Shane Ruddick Allen and Larry E. Fox

“Goddamn madhouse tonight,” says Shawna, a prison guard, as she talks to a reporter and sips the upscale beer he paid for. “Never seen it like that — never! All them TV trucks? Never seen a crowd like that…not even for Willie T, and he had a big one...but tonight? Damn.”

Coyote on a Fence

The state just executed Bobby Reyburn for setting fire to an African-American church and killing all the parishioners, including 14 children.

In Bruce Graham’s Coyote on a Fence, Shawna recounts Reyburn’s time in jail and his effect on John Brennan, the man in the death-row cell next door, who wants to see the good in people convicted of murder.

Sponsored
Sponsored

Bobby spews racist babble and anti-Semitic slurs with assault-rifle rapidity and with the Aryan assurance that God is on his side. He’s as “evil” as Herman Melville’s Billy Budd, whose murder of a sailor is “good.”

Of course you could say Bobby’s upbringing made him this way: born with fetal alcohol syndrome; tormented to the point of brain damage by his mother, a prostitute; abused so often in prison he has one eye and hip damage.

Among the questions Coyote asks: in other circumstances, could Bobby have been different? The play contrasts Bobby with John Brennan: educated, literate, he writes positive obits for the condemned and doesn’t want “the last thing said about men in here to be ugly.”

An advocate of human rights, John denies kicking a drug dealer to death. Where did John’s “circumstances” lead him?

OnStage Playhouse must conclude the run of their tough, thought-provoking drama this Sunday (February 6). They caution that “this production is intended for mature audiences. It contains excessive profanity and explicit language which may offend some patrons.” It does, and may. But it can also cast light where society would rather not tread.

Craig Noel Awards ceremony Takes place this coming Monday, February 8, at the Museum of Contemporary Art, San Diego, at 700 Prospect Street La Jolla, from 6:00 to 10:00 p.m. Along with awards in 25 categories, the San Diego Theater Critics Circle will honor Actor of the Year (male and female), Director of the Year, and the Don Braunagel Award for Outstanding Work by a Small Theater Company.

Admission is free, but reservations are required and few seats remain.

The latest copy of the Reader

Please enjoy this clickable Reader flipbook. Linked text and ads are flash-highlighted in blue for your convenience. To enhance your viewing, please open full screen mode by clicking the icon on the far right of the black flipbook toolbar.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Live Five: Sitting On Stacy, Matte Blvck, Think X, Hendrix Celebration, Coriander

Alt-ska, dark electro-pop, tributes, and coastal rock in Solana Beach, Little Italy, Pacific Beach
Shane Ruddick Allen and Larry E. Fox
Shane Ruddick Allen and Larry E. Fox

“Goddamn madhouse tonight,” says Shawna, a prison guard, as she talks to a reporter and sips the upscale beer he paid for. “Never seen it like that — never! All them TV trucks? Never seen a crowd like that…not even for Willie T, and he had a big one...but tonight? Damn.”

Coyote on a Fence

The state just executed Bobby Reyburn for setting fire to an African-American church and killing all the parishioners, including 14 children.

In Bruce Graham’s Coyote on a Fence, Shawna recounts Reyburn’s time in jail and his effect on John Brennan, the man in the death-row cell next door, who wants to see the good in people convicted of murder.

Sponsored
Sponsored

Bobby spews racist babble and anti-Semitic slurs with assault-rifle rapidity and with the Aryan assurance that God is on his side. He’s as “evil” as Herman Melville’s Billy Budd, whose murder of a sailor is “good.”

Of course you could say Bobby’s upbringing made him this way: born with fetal alcohol syndrome; tormented to the point of brain damage by his mother, a prostitute; abused so often in prison he has one eye and hip damage.

Among the questions Coyote asks: in other circumstances, could Bobby have been different? The play contrasts Bobby with John Brennan: educated, literate, he writes positive obits for the condemned and doesn’t want “the last thing said about men in here to be ugly.”

An advocate of human rights, John denies kicking a drug dealer to death. Where did John’s “circumstances” lead him?

OnStage Playhouse must conclude the run of their tough, thought-provoking drama this Sunday (February 6). They caution that “this production is intended for mature audiences. It contains excessive profanity and explicit language which may offend some patrons.” It does, and may. But it can also cast light where society would rather not tread.

Craig Noel Awards ceremony Takes place this coming Monday, February 8, at the Museum of Contemporary Art, San Diego, at 700 Prospect Street La Jolla, from 6:00 to 10:00 p.m. Along with awards in 25 categories, the San Diego Theater Critics Circle will honor Actor of the Year (male and female), Director of the Year, and the Don Braunagel Award for Outstanding Work by a Small Theater Company.

Admission is free, but reservations are required and few seats remain.

Comments
Sponsored

The latest copy of the Reader

Please enjoy this clickable Reader flipbook. Linked text and ads are flash-highlighted in blue for your convenience. To enhance your viewing, please open full screen mode by clicking the icon on the far right of the black flipbook toolbar.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Raging Cider & Mead celebrates nine years

Company wants to bring America back to its apple-tree roots
Next Article

Birding & Brews: Breakfast Edition, ZZ Ward, Doggie Street Festival & Pet Adopt-A-Thon

Events November 21-November 23, 2024
Comments
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

This Week’s Reader This Week’s Reader