The Trial of Wild Gil Hiccup
Written by Johnny Grim
“The Trial of Wild Gil Hiccup” is an hilarious and somewhat bawdy comedy about cowboys, bar girls, lawmen, and one badass gunslinger. The gunslinger, Wild Gil Hiccup, has finally been apprehended and is on trial for the slaying of three hundred and three men. And – with two different endings – your audience gets to decide the verdict and outcome.
The backdrop for this crazy court room caper is the wild west’s Slimy Gulch Saloon Bar. The problem for the prosecution is that Gil Hiccup’s defence lawyer insists that the man on trial is, in fact, not the notorious Gil Hiccup. Your audience will hear from 6 star witnesses. What verdict they arrive at will depend on how convincing your lawyers and witnesses are!
Justice William Hammerstein the 3rd is the presiding judge and is in charge of keeping control in the courtroom. Yes… he has questionable morals and yes… he has a no-nonsense disposition. But hell, this is the wild west!
Hyatt Twerp is the prosecution lawyer and the man assigned with the job of making sure that the defendant is swinging from a noose by high noon tomorrow. His job is to paint the accused as the meanest, wildest, most vengeful and ruthless man within a 100 mile radius of Slimy Gulch.
Jessie Jaynes is the cultured and smooth-talking defence lawyer. Will Jessie’s flare for writing sappy happy-ending romance novels help him convince the jury that his client has simply and unfortunately, been mistaken for the ruthless Mr Hiccup and is, beyond any reasonable doubt, innocent!
Otis could – very loosely – be called the judge’s personal assistant. But today, by way of default, Otis is Judge Hammerstein’s eternally upbeat court reporter. He’s a bit of a womaniser and knows everything going on in town; whether it’s his business or not. This trial is the most exciting thing to hit Slimy Gulch in a long time… And you’d better believe that he is going to have his 15 minutes of fame!
That just leaves our 6 star witnesses…
Deputy Dorrg is a bit of a scaredy-cat and doesn’t really want to be sheriff, but his boss went and got himself shot, right between the eyes, by the defendant.
Amy-Lou Backwoods is a pretty young saloon girl. Pleasant and agreeable, yet so old and wise. As a child, she lived in the same neighbourhood as Gil Hiccup. Surely she recognises him?
Jacob Honeybee runs the local betting establishment. He’s been outed for taking bets on the outcome of this very trial. How much can we trust his testimony?
Mary-Jean Backwoods is Amy-Lou’s twin sister. Bit less agreeable, bit less pleasant, but also old and wise for her age. She is witness to at least four murders by Mr Hiccup, not to mention that she is the witness who was – shall we say – closest to Wild Gil Hiccup.
Harry Joe Dumbleton is a ‘down-on-his-luck’ gambler, hired to kill Gil Hiccup by he doesn’t know who. But there was money involved, enough to clear all his gambling debts. The only flaw in his plan… He’s not real good with a gun.
Our last star witness is Sheeska Bab from eastern India, he loves the west – and making a buck. Mr Bab and his wife are responsible for capturing the notorious defendant. Thanks, in no small way, to his wife’s fiery hot curry and a locked toilet door.
Who is going to present their case the most convincingly? Our prosecutor Hyatt Twerp or our defence lawyer Jessie Jaynes? Which witnesses will deliver a convincing testimony? The verdict your audience reaches will depend on how convincing everybody is or, perhaps, how unconvincing you want them to be…. Go on, add your own spice!
“The Trial of Wil Gil Hiccup” is a 2-Act play that runs for around 90 minutes and has a cast size of 10, with doubling possible.
The live performance licencing fee for this play is AUD99.00 per performance.
Our standard performance package is AUD68.00 and includes the script, all copy fees and required SFX.
You can purchase this script, and many other great scripts, right here on the Stage-Write Plays website.
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