The Fort Griffin Fandangle began in 1938 as a play entitled Dr. Shackelford's Paradise and was first performed that spring by the seniors of Albany High School. Penned and directed by Robert E. Nail, Jr., for whom the Archives is named, the play was a dramatic account of the history of Shackelford County.
Dr. Shakelford’s Paradise was very well received, and was performed again later that summer, this time with involvement from the entire community. Renamed the Fort Griffin Fandangle, the show was a marked success and plans were made to make the Fandangle an annual event. Originally “born of a vague urge to do something a little larger than the usual home talent production,” the show has since taken on a life of its own, growing and changing each and every year.
Nail explained it best when he wrote:
“In the beginning it was meant to be a fairly serious spectacle, another pageant based on local history. It was, to use a cattlerange expression, ‘loose-herded’ as it grew, and as often occurs in the creative process, it became not what was originally intended but something much better. Somehow the spirit of the men who made local history - their cocky individualism, their hard humor, their skeptical attitudes - kept intruding and turned bland pageantry into light-hearted satire.”
After a year of rest due to the worldwide pandemic in 2020, the Fandangle returns this summer with renewed excitement and energy!
Molly Sauder, Archivist and Librarian
