The Dastardly Thornes v. The Town of Goldhaven

In The Dastardly Thornes v. The Town of Goldhaven, a new musical by Ben Holbrook and Nate Weida, an audience of local cowboys pile into an old western theatre filled with bizarre and unsavory characters, where the local theater troupe facilitates the trial of the century. Explore contradicting colonizing narratives and themes of toxicity, manifest destiny, beans, and the ownership of history, in a collection of truly ridiculous reenactments from the bloodiest shootout in the town’s history. After the most rootinest, tootinest showdown in local history, the town of Goldhaven, Arizona has (despite its lack of infrastructure) decided to carry out due process and put the treacherous Thorne gang (a family of outlaws) on trial. The town theatre, being the largest building in town, becomes the hotspot for this legal spectacle, the only catch, per their agreement with the mayor, everything performed on their stage is liable to be scrutinized, dramatized and set to music by their artistic director. Pull up a chair, crack open a can of beans and rub shoulders with an audience full of outlaws, neer-do-wells, and horses with ill-intent, as the local acting troupe performs each testimony with gusto, slowly revealing the lascivious lies and troubling truths that led to the most violent shootout in town history. “Goldhaven,” an immersive, comedic western musical, by Ben Holbrook and Nate Weida, explores contradicting colonizing narratives and themes of toxicity, manifest destiny, beans, and the ownership of history.