Outlaw

By Norm Foster

A fantastic Western comedy from Norm Foster. If you liked Jenny's House of Joy, you'll love Outlaw!

A young Canadian homesteader travelling far from home finds himself accused of murder in the state of Kansas in 1871. With only his wits to defend himself, he turns the law of the land—and the men hell-bent on enforcing it—upside down. This authentic western is a unique take on the days when guns were the law.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Playwrights Canada Press
• Release date: Jul 1, 2007
• ISBN: 9781770913950

Norm Foster

Norm Foster has been the most produced playwright in Canada every year for the past twenty years. His plays receive an average of one hundred and fifty productions annually. Norm has over sixty plays to his credit, including The Foursome, On a First Name Basis, and Hilda’s Yard. He is the recipient of the Los Angeles Drama-Logue Award for his play The Melville Boys and is an Officer of the Order of Canada. He lives in Fredericton.

Book preview

Cover: Outlaw by Norm Foster

OUTLAW

BY

NORM FOSTER

Second Scene Editions

Playwrights Canada Press • Toronto

Outlaw © Copyright 2004 Norm Foster

First appearance in this format – September 2003

Production Editor: M.Z.K.

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LIBRARY AND ARCHIVES CANADA CATALOGUING IN PUBLICATION

Foster, Norm, 1949-

Outlaw/ Norm Foster

A Play.

ISBN 978-0-88754-757-7

I. Title

Playwrights Canada Press operates on Mississaugas of the Credit, Wendat, Anishinaabe, Métis, and Haudenosaunee land. It always was and always will be Indigenous land.

We acknowledge the financial support of the Canada Council for the Arts, the Ontario Arts Council (OAC), Ontario Creates, and the Government of Canada for our publishing activities.

Four logos. One is for the Canada Council for the Arts, one is for the Government of Canada, another is for the Ontario Arts Council and the fourth is for the Ontario Media Development Corporation. The latter two organizations are agencies of the Ontario government.

Outlaw was first performed at Theatre Orangeville in Orangeville, Ontario from February 25th to March 14th, 2004, with the following company:

Characters

ACT ONE • SCENE 1

Time: 1871.

Place: Somewhere in Kansas.

A light comes up on a lone figure, BOB Hicks. He speaks to the audience.

BOB: It was the year of our Lord eighteen seventy-one. Us farmers was disciples of the Farmer’s Almanac . If they said it in the Almanac then it was by God true. So, when the Almanac predicted a bad year for crops that year, my wife and I begun to worry. And when we got that frost in late June, the worryin’ turned to near panic. You see, our farm wasn’t a big farm and if we was to lose even a half a crop to weather then we’d be in a fix come winter. Now, I’d never been on a cattle drive before, but I heard there was money to be made on one and for work that wasn’t near as back-breakin’ as farmin’ was. It sounded good to me. I mean, what could go wrong?

Lights go down on BOB and come up on WILL Vanhorne. He speaks to the audience.

WILL: I’d been driftin’ most of my life and I never had enough money to be called Mister. But, I’d reached a time and a place where I thought it might be a comfort to settle down. I was workin’ for the biggest cattle rancher in the state, and I thought that if I made foreman then maybe I could look to get a little place of my own. Maybe take a wife. I mean, a man’s gotta put down roots sometime, otherwise he’s got nothin’ to show for hisself but dusty clothes and a wore out horse. And I didn’t come from nothin’ special and I didn’t see nothin’ special down the trail, so it seemed to me that what I already had, might be as good as it was gonna get. That wasn’t a satisfyin’ fact, but it was a fact nonetheless.

Lights go down on WILL and come up on DUPUIS Tarwater. He speaks to the audience.

DUPUIS: I’ll be the first to admit that I hadn’t lived my life like a preacherman. I liked women. I liked drinkin’. Sometimes I lied, sometimes I cheated, and I killed a few men that I thought deserved killin’. And I never took on a fight if I thought I was gettin’ in over my saddle skirts. No, I always made certain that the other fella had misplaced his eyeglasses or had a bad case of slow. Some would say that weren’t noble and I’d be a fool to argue. But, there ain’t nothin’ noble about dyin’ either. Dyin’ is just dyin’ – plain and simple. Besides, I’ve always believed that sooner or later, a man gets what’s comin’ to him. And that scared the hell outa me.

Lights go down on DUPUIS and come up on ROLAND Keets. He speaks to the audience.

ROLAND: Henry David Thoreau once said that the frontiers are not east or west, north or south, but wherever a man fronts a fact. In the state of Kansas in eighteen seventy-one, it fell upon my shoulders to exact a measure of revenge on behalf of my murdered brother. This was to become my frontier. Now the Spanish have a saying which goes, No revenge is more honourable than the one not taken. That’s very wise. But, then I never did like the Spanish.

Lights down on ROLAND. Lights up on BOB, asleep on his bedroll. His saddle sits nearby along with his boots and pants. There is a campfire as well. WILL Vanhorne enters the lit area pointing his gun at BOB.

WILL: Mister? Mister, wake up please. (He kicks at BOB’s feet.)

BOB: What? What’s goin’ on?

WILL: You’re gonna have to get up now, Mister, and please don’t make any sort of move for your weapon.

BOB: Weapon? I don’t have a weapon. What is this? Who are you?

WILL: I’m Will Vanhorne outa Tuscaloosa and I’ve come to take ya back.

BOB: Will Van… what? What did you say?

WILL: I’m Will Vanhorne outa Tuscaloosa and I’ve come to take ya back.

BOB: Back where? Tusca?… I never been to Tuscaloosa.

WILL: No, Tuscaloosa is where I’m from. It’s where I was born. It’s not where I’m takin’ ya back to.

BOB: Well, why are you tellin’ me where you was born?

WILL: I’m just announcin’ who I am as a courtesy. So you’ll know who it is who’s captured ya.

BOB: What are you talkin’ about, capture?

WILL: I’m Will Vanhorne outa Tuscaloosa and I’ve…

BOB: All right, I know who you are. I know that. I wanna know what this capturin’ talk is all about.

WILL: Well, if you’d let me finish, I was gettin’ to it. I’ve come to take you back