The Mockingbird Theatre

In the olden days, from the 1700s until the end of the horse wagon era, peddlers of patent medicine would travel the west drawing crowds to their wagons by interspersing crafted sales pitches with lively singing, dancing, comedic stories, and music audiences. While the Mockingbird Theatre Company doesn’t actually sell snake oil, their performance is a lively rendition of the real thing. Characters in their show include “Professor Albion,” owner and chief medical consultant of the company; “California Jack,” his western side-kick; “Mademoiselle Odessa,” the lovely singing ballerina; and “Madam Featherstock,” the matriarch and organ player of the troupe. Those who gather round watch singing, banjo playing, dancing, and exhibitions of derringer sharp shooting; hear wild stories about how the medicine was discovered, comic bird calls, and comedic and musical adaptations of Shakespearean plays.