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Losers Bracket

"A gut-busting comedy with no-nonsense doses of heart... elements of the Coen Brothers' twisted sense of truth mingle with the laidback lunacy of Mayberry."

ChicagoTheatre.com

"The play hums with the kind of quirky, blue-collar, sports-loving bravado that made Bleacher Bums a Chicago classic."

Chicago Tribune

More information

Description

  • Full Length Play
  • Comedy
  • 90 minutes

  • Time Period: Present Day
  • Target Audience: Adult
  • Set Requirements: Unit Set/Multiple Settings
  • Cautions: Strong Language

  • Performance Group:
  • Community Theatre, College Theatre / Student, Professional Theatre
"Tiny" Willits and Ethan Banks spend their free time at Boo's Tavern in the working-class community of Downs Moor. Boo's co-owner is a loudmouth named Gus "Hitch" Bigwood. Hitch has a limp due to a forklift accident 10 years earlier, which got him a massive settlement, a large part of which he spent on an antique automobile. Unbeknownst to Ethan and Tiny, Hitch has been faking his limp for the past decade to avoid paying back the insurance company for his fraudulent claim.

Ethan and Tiny get laid off from the factory and are now desperate. To add insult to injury, Tiny has recently lost his girlfriend, Trisha, to the high-school principal, Rick, and Ethan is getting hounded by debt collectors. Hitch, in the meantime, has grown weary of faking his limp. Trying to gather enough money to leave Downs Moor and live anonymously, Hitch and Terry Edwards (the town's ineffectual sheriff) hatch a scheme to "fake-steal" Hitch's antique automobile and collect the trumped-up insurance payoff.

When Ethan and Tiny find out Hitch is faking his limp, he is forced to let them in on the plans. The plan goes perfectly and all are satisfied with the results... until Tiny and Ethan find out Hitch lied about the amount of the payoff.
REVIEWS:

"Chock-full of vigor and belly laughs."

 Chicago Tribune

"The play hums with the kind of quirky, blue-collar, sports-loving bravado that made Bleacher Bums a Chicago classic."

 Chicago Tribune

"The Brothers Sander... exhibit an assured command of dialogue and character in their script."

 Chicago Tribune

"It's a beer lover's play. The dive-bar setting is stocked with bad haircuts, Ditka accents and a jukebox full of Def Leppard's finest, making even the primmest teetotaler crave a cold brew."

 Chicago Sun-Times

"[This] blue-collar comedy is a tall glass of Pabst."

 Chicago Sun-Times

"An elegantly conceived slice of life about fishing, drinking, ranting and cussing in the Middle American wasteland."

 Chicago Reader

"Despite all the screwball backstabbing and infighting, the biggest laughs come from simply basking in the mind-numbing predictability of human nature."

 Chicago Reader

"A gut-busting comedy with no-nonsense doses of heart... elements of the Coen Brothers' twisted sense of truth mingle with the laidback lunacy of Mayberry."

 ChicagoTheatre.com

Premiere Production: Losers Bracket received its premiere production at WNEP Theater in Chicago, directed by Jen Ellison, in September 2003.

Characters

  • Casting: 6M, 4F
  • Casting Attributes: Reduced casting (Doubling Possible)

  • HITCH BIGWOOD - Male. Loud and obnoxious bar owner. Can be any age over 40. His motormouth never stops dishing out advice, ridicule or anecdotes with a small-town Midwestern meter. The center of attention when he is in a room. A know-it-all who walks with a noticeable limp in his left leg.

  • ETHAN BANKS - Male. Blue-collar bar regular in his mid 30s. Scruffy, recently divorced, thin with a bit of paunch. Beaten down by life, nothing much excites him anymore.

  • TINY WILLITS - Male. Ethan's friend. Big guy, overweight, mid 30s, with three days of stubble. He used to be a great high-school athlete, but too many beers and hot dogs have taken their toll.

  • SHERIFF TERRY EDWARDS - Male. Downs Moor's ineffectual sheriff. He is the same age as Tiny and Ethan. Slight build, nerdy and a bit in over his head with the job. Tends to not arrest a lot of people due to the paperwork involved and because he knows everyone.

  • BOO KOONTZ - Female. Co-owner and manager of Boo's Tavern. Rough around the edges but is everybody's friend.

    • Available Material

    Name Price
    Losers Bracket Script This is optional. Order Now

    "Tiny" Willits and Ethan Banks spend their free time at Boo's Tavern in the working-class community of Downs Moor. Boo's co-owner is a loudmouth named Gus "Hitch" Bigwood. Hitch has a limp due to a forklift accident 10 years earlier, which got him a massive settlement, a large part of which he spent on an antique automobile. Unbeknownst to Ethan and Tiny, Hitch has been faking his limp for the past decade to avoid paying back the insurance company for his fraudulent claim.

    Ethan and Tiny get laid off from the factory and are now desperate. To add insult to injury, Tiny has recently lost his girlfriend, Trisha, to the high-school principal, Rick, and Ethan is getting hounded by debt collectors. Hitch, in the meantime, has grown weary of faking his limp. Trying to gather enough money to leave Downs Moor and live anonymously, Hitch and Terry Edwards (the town's ineffectual sheriff) hatch a scheme to "fake-steal" Hitch's antique automobile and collect the trumped-up insurance payoff.

    When Ethan and Tiny find out Hitch is faking his limp, he is forced to let them in on the plans. The plan goes perfectly and all are satisfied with the results... until Tiny and Ethan find out Hitch lied about the amount of the payoff.

    		$19.95

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