THE DEVIL’S OUTLAWS
AN AMERICAN HORROR STORY
BY VINCENT S. HANNAM
Appalachia, 1867. Three Civil War veterans, of different races and allegiances, head west to start new lives but soon find their demons will not be outrun.
8-16 actors; flexible casting; full length
Horror, Western, War, Adventure, Period
SELECT REVIEWS
“Imagine Cormac McCarthy, H. P. Lovecraft, and Sam Peckinpah getting together to write a play about the need to shift ground in order to begin healing after years of trauma, but how it often seems impossible to make it to safer ground, and how many of your friends and family unconsciously become stumbling blocks instead of allies. The script these masters would create might wind up in a plagiarism suit with Mr. Hannam’s script as evidence against them. Uniquely violent, poetic, scary Western horror is hard to find onstage today, but this striking play has them tied with a bow.” – Porter Jamison
CHARACTER BREAKDOWN
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| MARTHA JACKSON: | White. Female. 20s-30s. |
| ARNOLD JACKSON: | White. Male. 20s-30s. |
| JACOB BUTLER: | African American. Male. 20s-30s. |
| TSALI: | Cherokee/Native American. Male. 20s-30s. |
| FUR TRAPPER: | Any race/ethnicity. Male. Any adult age. |
| MAN IN BLACK: | White/Latino. Any gender*. 20s+ |
| CONDUCTOR: | White. Any gender*. 20s+ |
| RAMIREZ: | Latino. Male. 20s. |
| COOLEE: | Any race/ethnicity. Male. 20s-30s. |
| CAPTAIN: | White. Male. 30s-40s. |
| WAYNE TURNBULL: | White. Male. 30s-40s. |
| MASTER GHOUL: | Any race/ethnicity. Any gender*. Any adult age. |
| EVIL VOICE; SAILOR VOICES; MEMORIES OF BAD MEN: | Voiceover characters. |
Notes:
You can perform the play with as few as eight actors.
Suggested doubling would look like:
MAN IN BLACK/RAMIREZ
FUR TRAPPER/ CONDUCTOR/CAPTAIN/MASTER GHOUL
*Please change written pronouns to accommodate the gender identity of the actor cast.
PRODUCTION HISTORY
- Workshop, Mischief Tales Theatre, 2011
RECOGNITIONS
- Finalist – UCF Pegasus Playlab, University of Central Florida, 2024
