THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 13

7:00 PM (doors @ 6:30PM)

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Jackson, WY — Originally produced by Off Square Theatre Co., R.W. “Bob” Berky’s The Fourth Nail, a darkly hilarious, historical satire about piety, prosperity, and the price of salvation, returns. Tumbleweed Creative Arts presents a staged reading of Berky’s updated script for the Pink Garter Theatre, its first performance since its debut at the Center for the Arts in April 2008.

Set in medieval Prague at the end of the First Crusade (1099 AD), the play follows two weary knights, Berthoud and Baldwin (Golden Garnick and Andrew Munz), who limp home from Jerusalem dragging sacks of “holy relics,” a mysteriously heavy box, and a buried burden of unspeakable guilt. Berthoud schemes to sell salvation one trinket at a time, while Baldwin’s charming delusions lead him to confuse coincidence with divine intervention.

Meanwhile, King John (Broughton Coburn), blind, half-mad and dying, leans on his fool, Radish (Oakley Boycott), to distract him from his mortality. When Radish encounters the two knights, her mockery cuts deep, revealing uncomfortable truths about their own hypocrisy. 

In the heart of this chaos, an alchemist named Arnoldus (played by Berky himself) attempts to turn sin into science, devotion into gold, and chaos into divine order. His bubbling experiments erupt into literal explosions, transforming the castle into a crucible where faith, greed and guilt collide.

Part Monty Python, part Samuel Beckett, and entirely original, The Fourth Nail unfolds as a tragicomic fable about belief gone awry, how humans justify their cruelty, sanctify their greed, and mistake their delusions for grace.

Performed with scripts in hand by a powerhouse Wyoming-based cast, this new staged reading showcases Berky’s razor-sharp language, physical humor, and absurdist rhythm. Stage directions will be read aloud by Rachel Stevens. Performance audio will be recorded to preserve The Fourth Nail as a radio play.

Berky, a MacArthur “Genius” Fellow, and recipient of the Obie, Edinburgh Fringe First, and Kennedy Center Roger L. Stevens Awards, is an internationally recognized performer, playwright, and educator. The evening will feature a dramaturgical introduction by Berky and a post-show talkback with the cast after both performances. 

The Fourth Nail runs Wednesday and Thursday, November 12 + 13 at the Pink Garter Theatre, presented by Tumbleweed Creative Arts. Runtime is approximately two hours, with a ten-minute intermission.