Deborah Pryor's Briar Patch is not based on the now un-p.c. Uncle Remus tales but it is brimming with a group of quirky, scheming characters. It's an offbeat story about a woman in a backwater Virginia town who attempts to flee her marriage to an abusive pot farmer and run off to Richmond with a rich and handsome peanut farmer.
The work has taken a sort of reverse path to the stage. Pryor, who is currently a fellow at the American Film Institute, first wrote Briar Patch as a screenplay (which won a prestigious Nichols Foundation Award) and only later re-wrote it for the stage.
Prior to its current production at the Ventura Court Theatre, Briar Patch was produced at Arena Stage in Washington.
The shows runs through Dec. 14 at the Ventura Court Theatre, 12417 Ventura Court, Studio City, CA. For tickets, call (888) 566-8499.
-- By Rebecca Paller
