As great debates go, the one between historic British anglers Frederick M. Halford and G. E. M. Skues is notable chiefly for the fact it never will end.
Halford, the scion of the dry fly, and Skues, the principal proponent of the wet, launched their bloodless battle as the 20th century dawned. These gentlemen, each with his own small army of adherents, never clashed in direct public dispute, content merely to hurl ideologically barbed flies through publications and separate discussion.
Wet or dry? The timeless discussion will be joined theatrically Nov. 6 in Boulder in what Gordon Wickstrom touts as “the only drama in existence completely about fishing.” The 50-minute diversion, set in a club in London, will portray a confrontation that never happened.
Wickstrom originally wrote a small book about this historic hair-pull and more recently condensed it to the play that will be performed free to the public at 4 p.m. at the auditorium of the Boulder Public Library, Ninth Street at Canyon Boulevard.
Peter Giffin will personate Halford; Douglas Caskey appears as Skues; Chuck Squier plays the role of R.B. Marston, publisher of The Fishing Gazette, the period journal in which some of the dispute raged. Sam Sandoe will serve as host.
In a clever touch, Wickstrom tacks on a fictional appearance by George La Branche, the most famous contemporary American, as a vessel for the colonial point of view, with Jim Thorp in the role.
Modern fly-fishers, shameless eclectics, may never seize the conflict over wet and dry to the extent their predecessors once did. But it may be fun to imagine it.
