Texas Talkie

In the wake of Academy Award season, it's time to remember the work of Horton Foote, one of the most underappreciated theater and film writers of our time—mainly because he doesn't blow his own horn, I guess. He received an Oscar for the screen adaptation of To Kill a Mockingbird and another for the original screenplay of Tender Mercies, which also won a best actor award for Robert Duvall. Geraldine Page won a best actress Oscar for her starring role in The Trip to Bountiful, which Foote adapted from his 1953 Broadway play. Foote grew up on the Texas Gulf Coast, as did I, and I've always appreciated his remarkable characters: underdogs who are wounded but resilient, articulate in their own quirky ways. His signature style is on display in Talking Pictures, a play set in Harrison, Texas, about a divorced female piano player who accompanies the silent movies at the picture show. It's 1929 and the beginning of the depression. She's about to lose her job to the talkies and her teenage son to her ex-husband's flashy promises. But somehow she finds dignity, hope and a certain Texas resolve that marks all of Foote's great characters. See Talking Pictures through March 25 at Theatre Three, 2800 Routh St. Showtimes are 7:30 p.m. Thursdays, 8 p.m. Fridays, 2:30 p.m. and 8 p.m. Saturdays, and 2:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. Sundays. Tickets are $20 to $25. Call 214-871-3300 or visit theatre3dallas.com.
Thursdays-Sundays. Starts: March 3. Continues through March 25