SCRIPT OUTLINE: FOXY’S HANGOUT, A 10-MINUTE PLAY BY KATE HERBERT
© Kate Herbert April 2020
PART A: SCRIPT ELEMENTS
1. CHARACTERS
DAZ: 20ish. He is unemployed and on benefits. He is a rough and roughly spoken young man who peppers his dialogue with expletives. He takes risks and thinks he can charm or smile his way out of sticky situations and is a petty criminal who thieves and rolls people for cash. He is obsessed with quad bikes and fast cars that he cannot afford.
MITCH: 40ish. He is a farmer on his own land struggling with the drought and foxes that are taking his lambs. He is strange and mercurial, shifting suddenly from friendly and laughing to aggressive and almost dangerous. He carries a shotgun, ostensibly to kill foxes, has a Blue Heeler dog called Bluey who he describes as his best friend and he says that he has a wife and two kids, although the story of their whereabouts keeps changing.
2. SETTING
The action takes place in rough bushland in an isolated location in rural Australia. The primary location is a dirt track on MITCH’s rural property. His farmhouse is not visible although it is accessible by foot, “ute” or quad bike along this track.
3. SET DESIGN
The set design should be simple, uncluttered and non-naturalistic, giving an impression of the rural location. The play is performed on an almost empty stage with only two or three chairs or boxes being used for DAZ’s quad bike. If budget allows, the design could include potted trees upstage to represent the bushland location.
4. STYLE/GENRE
The play uses naturalistic dialogue but is performed on a non-naturalistic set. The style of performance is dramatic and suspenseful and has an edge of menace with echoes of an outback thriller such as Wolf Creek.
5. TECHNICAL REQUIREMENTS
Lighting should be dim and atmospheric, reflecting the reduced, dappled light in the bushland and the edge of danger in the narrative.
Soundscape should be simple and sonorous to enhance the sense of isolation and danger.
Sound FX include the rev of a distant quadbike and the off-stage sound of a dog barking.
6. THEME/INTENTION
The play is about the fact that people we meet are not always what they seem, and that danger can be lurking in unexpected places and people. The intention is that the audience will feel suspense and a creeping sense of unease that will be confirmed in the final moment of the play when MITCH turns and smiles strangely and menacingly directly at audience.
7. AUDIENCE FOR PLAY
The target audience for this play is 15+. It is not suitable for younger children as it has an edge of menace and may frighten younger children.
8. APPROXIMATE DURATION OF SCRIPT
The script is approximately 10 minute in duration.
PART B: SCENE BREAKDOWN
1. DAZ crashes his quad bike on an isolated bush track.
DAZ sits on quad bike facing audience. He is riding on a track and shouting at his friend Hassan/Hass (an off-stage character) to “keep up you lazy beardy bastard”. DAZ then shouts that he is going to turn off into the bush. DAZ swerves like a maniac, evidently hits something, veers into an unseen tree, damaging his quad bike. He gets off the bike and looks behind to see what he hit, thinking it might have been a dingo or a small roo.
2. MITCH emerges from the bush, carrying a shotgun and confronts DAZ.
DAZ hears shotgun blasts nearby and MITCH (off-stage) calling “Bluey!” DAZ hides behind a tree. MITCH emerges from the bush, holding a shotgun rifle comfortably. He stops, stares at the bike and sees DAZ, who has his hands in the air like a criminal. MITCH tells DAZ he’s on his, MITCH’s land and tells him to “fuck off” but DAZ says he can’t leave because his quad bike is damaged. MITCH reminds DAZ that he, MITCH, is the one with the gun. DAZ tries to call Hassan, but there is no phone signal. MITCH says he could whack the bike on the back of the ute and take it back to his farm.
3. MITCH discovers DAZ killed Bluey.
When inspecting the damage, MITCH sees blood on the quad bike. DAZ insists it was a roo but MITCH says that DAZ killed his dog, Bluey. MITCH is angry and menacing then launches into an almost poetic/romantic monologue about Bluey being the best friend he ever had.
4. MITCH talks about his wife, the farm the drought and his woes.
DAZ suggests that MITCH call his wife to come and help but MITCH says she’s in town getting feed for the animals. MITCH points the gun at DAZ then, in a monologue, laments heatedly about the difficulty of farming in this country, the drought, the government, nobody helping his as a farmer and says that he sometimes thinks about ending his misery by turning his gun on himself. DAZ says, “Don’t!” MITCH continues ranting about wanting to shoot up Parliament and being unwilling to take charity from his well-off sister.
5. MITCH forces DAZ to “say a few words” over Bluey’s body.
MITCH suddenly changes the subject and angrily forces DAZ at gunpoint to pick up Bluey’s body and lay it carefully on the quad bike. Then MITCH orders DAZ to say a few words over the body and to be respectful. DAZ is confused and frightened but does his best, giving a muddled eulogy with MITCH giving him prompts. This impromptu doggy funeral ceremony has a comical tone.
6. MITCH plans to get the ute to collect Bluey’s body then MITCH turns nasty.
At the end of the doggy eulogy, MITCH tells DAZ they are going to walk back to the farm to collect the ute and come back to collect Bluey’s body. DAZ asks why MITCH doesn't just call his wife to bring the ute but MITCH says his wife is staying with her mother. DAZ reminds MITCH that he said his wife was getting feed in town. DAZ mentions the children and MITCH says his wife will collect the feed, then collect the kids from school and take them back to her mother’s place. MITCH’s story is full of contradictions. MITCH reacts suspiciously to DAZ’s questions then says that DAZ will dig a hole on the farm for Bluey before they return to collect the body. MITCH then says that DAZ must stay for a few days and work off his debt on the farm. DAZ asks, “What debt?” and MITCH snaps, points the gun at DAZ threateningly and says that DAZ owes him because he killed MITCH’s dog. DAZ apologises, frightened.
7. MITCH gets stranger and DAZ thinks he has a job for a few days.
When DAZ looks freaked out by MITCH’s threatening behaviour, MITCH changes suddenly and smiles strangely and too brightly, saying he was just messing with DAZ. DAZ is astonished and relieved, now thinking it was all a joke. DAZ suggests that, after he works off his debt to MITCH, he could get a job on a neighbouring farm as he’s been on the dole for two years and he’s sick of “robbin’ stuff from losers.” He says his mother would be rapt.
8. DAZ does not realise how dangerous MITCH really is – but the audience does.
MITCH and DAZ start to walk off stage. DAZ quips, “You’re not a psycho or a paedo or nothing, are ya?” MITCH quips, “Not unless you count all the bodies buried here.” DAZ freezes, afraid. MITCH stares at DAZ with a cold, strange gaze then suddenly laughs, pretending it was a joke. DAZ is relieved again and MITCH keeps up the pretence of a joke until DAZ exits. MITCH pauses, turns to audience, stares coldly, smiles menacingly, winks, points gun menacingly at audience, lowers it, smiles menacingly. MITCH swings gun back in the direction of DAZ off-stage then exits.
_THE END
