SANDALWOOD
When a young man blazes a trail of blood and destruction throughout the American West, his father embarks on a quest to stop him. But as he makes his way through the ghost towns his son has visited, he questions how evil the boy's intentions truly are, and if his terrible acts are somehow bringing him closer to humanity. Blending conventions of classic Western cinema with shades of Cormac McCarthy and even Pinocchio, Sandalwood explores the genetic inheritance of sin and violence.
PRESS
"Sandalwood's story drifts through the dust of the desert, coated in the serious side of Western tropes and the ghost stories of the frontier...[It] gets under the skin in subtle ways...a new twist to an old genre." Three Stars —Kevin Thomas, Time Out Chicago
"Pinocchio's a real boy, and that ain't good...Caffrey's language is florid, but not overwritten; he captures the supernatural feeling the piece is after...a compelling, melancholy look at what becomes of a sidetracked vision." Recommended —Lisa Buscani, Newcity
"Caffrey's episodic new play works as a dark, dark variation on the Pinocchio story...[He] raises disquieting questions about what it means to be human—and provocative ones about the provenance of evil." —Tony Adler, Chicago Reader
"Pinocchio's a real boy, and that ain't good...Caffrey's language is florid, but not overwritten; he captures the supernatural feeling the piece is after...a compelling, melancholy look at what becomes of a sidetracked vision." Recommended —Lisa Buscani, Newcity
"Caffrey's episodic new play works as a dark, dark variation on the Pinocchio story...[He] raises disquieting questions about what it means to be human—and provocative ones about the provenance of evil." —Tony Adler, Chicago Reader
PRODUCTION & DEVELOPMENT HISTORY
- Development workshop at Endstation Theatre Company (Sweet Briar, VA, 2013)
- Production at the side project, co-produced by the side project and Tympanic Theatre Company (Chicago, 2014) – Directed by Aaron Henrickson