The Painted Handgun

by James La Bella

A gunshot shrieks across the shore.
Over the course of the Summer of 1963, three people become entangled in a possible conspiracy involving a children's television show, the Vietnam War, sleep-paralysis, and a long-forgotten Jacobean Revenge Play.

A piece of Epic Theatre done in loving-homage to the work of the post-modern fiction writers of the 1960's.

A gunshot shrieks across the shore.
Over the course of the Summer of 1963, three people become entangled in a possible conspiracy involving a children's television show, the Vietnam War, sleep-paralysis, and a long-forgotten Jacobean Revenge Play.

A piece of Epic Theatre done in loving-homage to the work of the post-modern fiction writers of the 1960's.

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The Painted Handgun

Recommended by

  • Playwrights Foundation: The Painted Handgun by James La Bella
    “

    The community of national & local readers for the 44th annual Bay Area Playwrights Festival enthusiastically recommends THE PAINTED HANDGUN as a Semi-Finalist this season at Playwrights Foundation out of 755 plays. We were deeply moved by the artistic merits of the writer's skill with unfolding a mystery. We're compelled by the play's promise, as it displays the patterns of thought that can lead to conspiracism, whether justifed or not. We hope this play is widely read, finds dedicated collaborators, and moves swiftly towards production. #BAPF2021

    The community of national & local readers for the 44th annual Bay Area Playwrights Festival enthusiastically recommends THE PAINTED HANDGUN as a Semi-Finalist this season at Playwrights Foundation out of 755 plays. We were deeply moved by the artistic merits of the writer's skill with unfolding a mystery. We're compelled by the play's promise, as it displays the patterns of thought that can lead to conspiracism, whether justifed or not. We hope this play is widely read, finds dedicated collaborators, and moves swiftly towards production. #BAPF2021

    ”
  • Elizabeth Spreen / E. Hunter Spreen: The Painted Handgun by James La Bella
    “

    Applause. For a large cast play & maximalist length. I love the way James weaves the narration in & out of scenes, manages the various story threads, & sustains this epic beast for 251 pages. I appreciate how the play explores this time period, takes the tropes of the 60s, postmodernism, noir & lovingly inverts them. It feels connected to our present cultural miasma of conspiracies & polarization without confronting it directly. There's this wonderful way the play takes the everyday/quotidian & makes it something nefarious & unpredictable. *spoiler* I can never look at bananas w/o suspicion.

    Applause. For a large cast play & maximalist length. I love the way James weaves the narration in & out of scenes, manages the various story threads, & sustains this epic beast for 251 pages. I appreciate how the play explores this time period, takes the tropes of the 60s, postmodernism, noir & lovingly inverts them. It feels connected to our present cultural miasma of conspiracies & polarization without confronting it directly. There's this wonderful way the play takes the everyday/quotidian & makes it something nefarious & unpredictable. *spoiler* I can never look at bananas w/o suspicion.

    ”

Production History

  • University, Mercutio Troupe , 2019

Awards

  • Bay Area Playwrights Festival
    Playwrights Foundation
    Semi-Finalist
    2021