New York City Premiere

When Ransome Foster, a scholar from New York City, first came to the town of Twotrees he arrived bloody and beaten. Yet after a quick recovery and a promise to a young woman to help her learn to read, Foster begins to change the small town he starts to call home with love and education.

This catches the attention of Liberty Valance, an outlaw who seeks to restore his view of the norms of society through terror and bloodshed.  Suddenly, Foster finds himself on a collision course with the experienced gunman forcing him to make a choice: to run or to stand up for what he believes in, to live or to fight for what is right!

A classic tale of good versus evil, of law and order versus the Old West.

Most people do not think of the theatre when they think of a Western, they think of the films from Hollywood's golden age, including The Searchers, The Good, The Bad and The Ugly, or even Blazing Saddles. 

This is part of what makes Jethro Compton's stage adaptation of The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance so wonderful. The story is probably best known from the 1962 film by John Ford, starring John Wayne, James Stewart, Lee Marvin, and Vera Miles. The film is considered a timeless classic, but, like many films, it does not entirely follow the original story by Dorothy M. Johnson.

 Compton has smartly based his play on Johnson's original story, allowing him to put a fresh coat of paint on this classic fable, dealing with timeless issues such as racism, guns, and violence in America. This enables the theatrical production to truly become something special: a live-action Western that honors the classic film, speaks to modern issues and touches upon universal themes, such as love and forgiveness.

Though the play is consummately American, it was given its world premiere in the UK at London's Park Theatre in May of 2014. This was followed by its American premiere at the Rubicon Theatre in Los Angeles in March of 2016. Now The Onomatopoeia Theatre Company is proud to be presenting the New York City premiere of The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance  this July at the Gene Frankel Theatre