The Bootlegger Blues

Fifth House Publishers

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The Bootlegger Blues
is the product of a lot of hard work by many wonderful people. The genesis of the play was work-shopped during Native Earth Performing Arts annual Native Playwright Festival workshop, "Weesageechak Begins to Dance," back in 1990.

The play was produced that summer by De-Ba-Jeh-Mu-Jig Theatre Group on Manitoulin Island, where it premiered on the Wikwimikong Unceded Reserve 2 August 1990.
The Bootlegger Blues
toured Ontario for two months with the following cast:

Justine Enosse — Martha Gloria

Eshkibok — Marianne

Dwayne Manitowabi— Blue

Jani Lauzon—Angie

Billy Merasty— David

Clayton Odjig— Noble

Directed by Larry Lewis

Costumes and props by Cheryl Mills

Lights by Kennetch Charlette

Sets by Cheryl Mills and Kennetch Charlette

Stage Manager—Jeff Trudeau

The song "The Bootlegger Blues":

Music by Gary Williams

Music transcribed by Gerry and Sherry Young, Eagle Studios, Saskatoon, SK

Lyrics by Drew Hayden Taylor

These people are only the tip of the iceberg. The author would like to thank Audrey Debassige for taking me into her home during the rehearsal and production. I'd also like to thank the other people who participated in the workshop: Herbie Barnes, Arlinda Stonefish, Ed Peters, and the indomitable Vinetta Strombergs. Thanks also to Anita Knott, my aunt, for once again providing the Ojibway translations. And finally, to my mother and family, who provided so much material for this story without actually doing anything—just being themselves (those who are still talking to me).

Comedy …
What a laugh!

PRODUCTION NOTES

The Bootlegger Blues
is a comedy with a lot of movement, so there should be space to maneuver. The original production of
The Bootlegger Blues
contained a set broken up into three areas. The first and busiest was Martha's kitchen, which also doubled as the community center kitchen. It's here, with the fridge full of beer and Marianne cooking actual eggs on stage that the tone of the play was set. It was painted yellow for a domestic tone.

The second area was the space that doubled for all outdoor activities: the powwow grounds, David and Noble's confrontation, Angie and Blue's romantic walk. This background was painted green.

And finally came Blue's bedroom, where the fabulous wall of beer was located, Blue's seduction happened, and David's transformation. For obvious reasons, the room was painted blue.

Scattered throughout the play are occasional passages in Ojibway, the language of the community. These could easily be translated into various other Native languages depending on the whim of the individual theater company.

For atmosphere, there was a working stove on stage, so the audience could hear the authentic sound of eggs frying and smell them as they cooked.

 

CAST OF CHARACTERS

Martha (the mother) — 58 years old

Marianne (the daughter) — 34 years old

Andrew/Blue (the son) — 24 years old

Angie (the friend) — 22 years old

David (Marianne's common-law husband) — 35 years old

Noble (the dancer) — 34 years old

 

LOCATION

All the action takes place on a typical, contemporary Indian reserve located in central Ontario.

 

TIME

Twenty-four hours during a powwow weekend.

ACT I

 

SCENE 1

The scene is a large kitchen found in community centers everywhere. Everything is a mess, showing current use. In the background drum music can be heard. A powwow is going on. Martha, a matronly woman in her late 50s, comes charging like a train into the kitchen, carrying a huge bowl of peeled potatoes.

MARTHA:

How many more orders? (
Pause
) Oh my lord, they want seconds? Tell them to lick their plates till the corn soup's done. I'm getting too old for this. After feeding the first hundred people, I start to get kinda tired. It's amazing the way them dancers can jump around the way they do with so much food in their stomachs. The way they jump and bounce you'd think they were all Rabbit Clan or something. But I gotta keep telling myself, it's for the church. Nobody ever told me peeling potatoes would become God's work.

She starts peeling potatoes, gradually to the beat of the drum.

MARTHA:

Does set a nice pace, though. Music to peel by.

Martha busily peels potatoes. Occasionally she looks with frustration at the clock, as if waiting for someone. Marianne's head appears around the corner. She knows she's late.

MARTHA:

I never should have agreed to do this. It's more work than I ever expected.

MARIANNE:

It's the same with men.

MARTHA:

It might help if you'd try marrying one instead of just shacking up with them. You should marry David, he's so nice.

MARIANNE:

And you should stop smoking. Both would probably kill us. Geez Mom, it's hot in here.

MARTHA:

You better get used to hot places.

MARIANNE:

The hotter the better, Mom. Brownies!

MARTHA:

Get away from that food. If you want some, you know where to buy your ticket.

MARIANNE:

How much food you got in here anyways?

Martha opens up a huge refrigerator door showing an innumerable number of beer bottles.

MARIANNE:

I like your interior decorator.

Marianne reaches for one but Martha closes the refrigerator door before she's successful. Marianne continues to stare longingly at the closed door.

MARTHA:

It's all the fault of that old fool, Marjorie. She told me, (
In a shrill, nagging voice
) "You can't have a dinner for Indians without selling beer, they'll go crazy." Crazy fool, she ain't been the same since she got hit with the ball at that baseball game.

MARIANNE:

Remember Mom, love thy neighbor.

Martha shoves a big bowl of potatoes into Marianne's gut.

MARTHA:

And obey thy mother!

Marianne finds the bowl extremely heavy and gradually loses her grip on it.

MARTHA:

The old bat. So now I got all this beer and I don't know what to do with it. Being a good Christian woman like myself, I've never even taken a sip, never a sip in my life, and never will. Never even had it in my house.

MARIANNE:

Uh, Mom …

MARTHA:

(
Angrily
) That Marjorie. "I'll fill out the forms," she said. "You just have to sign them;' she said. Ever since we was little kids Marjorie never caused me nothing but trouble.

MARIANNE:

Mamaa, piniig! [Mother, the potatoes!]

MARTHA:

I'd better start getting used to striped pajamas and bread and water. There probably won't be any decent good scone there either. All I can do is pray these powwow people start getting a powerful thirst soon.

MARIANNE:

You're not sup .posed to drink and drum, Mother. The few that drink do it at night, when you're closed. I told you all this before.

MARTHA:

Bah, it don't matter if it's day or night, drinking is drinking and if they're gonna do it, it might as well support the church.

Marianne is visibly straining under the weight of the potatoes.

MARIANNE:

Mamaa, znigziwag giw! [Mama, it's heavy!]

MARTHA:

Dga-binizh giw. [Oh, give me those.]

Martha grabs the potatoes with ease.

MARTHA:

That's the problem with women today, not enough muscle.

MARIANNE:

Finally. Thank you.

MARTHA:

I would have thought that exercise man of yours would have done something good with that body of yours by now.

MARIANNE:

Not in a while, Mom, not in a while.

MARTHA:

I was told them type drink beer — I bought them beer and now they're ignoring me. Ungrateful dancing fools. My mother always warned us liquor would be the ruin of us some day. I didn't think she meant this way. I'm going outside for a smoke. Some of those dishes could use a good cleaning.

Marianne grabs a knife and creeps up on her mother as if to stab her. Martha catches Marianne in the act. Martha doesn't bat an eye.

MARTHA:

And the pots.

Marianne angrily throws the knife into the sink, splashing herself in the process. Martha exits.

MARIANNE:

(
Yelling
) Shit!

Wiping herself, she walks over toward the radio and turns it on.

ANNOUNCER:

It's up to a blistering 28 degrees out there in cottage country. No relief in sight for the remainder of the weekend, so take a bit of advice from Kawartha Radio, grab a cold beer, jump in the lake, sit back and remember the good old days as you cry with me.

The instrumental of "I've Got A Tear In My Beer" starts to play. As she does the dishes, she grabs a spoon and starts belting out the song in Ojibway. This is the real Marianne, a woman who wants to have fun, drink a beer, sing a song, and dirty plates, not wash them.

MARIANNE:

Sabiingway yaamgud maa ndi beerming pii mwiyaan

Miigo pane nsaanendmaan.

Pii shaangswi menkweyaan miigo gaazhi baashkdemyaan

Miigo pane nsaanendmaan.

Nwii gchi mnikwe kopii shkitooswaan ji maajiiyaan

Gnamaa gonaa daa maajaamgodoon niw sabiingwyaashun

Sbiingway yaamgad maa ndi beerming pii mwiyaan

Miigo pan nsaanedmaan!

Dibikong ngii gchi baamse, naasaab go wasbikong

Miigo pane nsaanendmaan.

Endigo eshkwaabmaadziyaan epiichi nshinaadendmaan

Miigo pane nsaanendmaan.

Nga gchi minkwe go dopii maajiisnog sa iw nzidoshs

Gnamaa gonaa gaawin ndaawiiskikaaksiin iw nde

Subiingway yaamgad maa ndi beerming pii mwiyaan

Miigo pane nsaanendmaan!

Ngii gehi ktaamgoz ji gaadooyaan niw nsabiingwyan

Miigo pane nsaanendmaan

Kina niw ensaanigyaan aashgo ngii pugzikaagnan

Miigo pane nsaanendmaan

Geyaabi go nga mnikwe, gaawin dash g'gamkwenmisoon

Gaawin pooch ngiishitoosiin ji nbaayaan iwgaabimiseg

Sabiingway yaamgad maa ndi beering piimwiyaan

Miigo pane nsaanendmaan!

Martha walks in. Marianne stops in mid-song but Martha doesn't notice. Embarrassed, Marianne pretends she was drying the spoon.

MARTHA:

Marianne Elizabeth, I've made a mountainous decision. I refuse to go to jail for being sweet-talked by that Marjorie. Last time I allowed myself to be sweet-talked, you appeared. (Opens the refrigerator) Look at all this … (She spits the word out) beer. Who cares if I get drummed out of the Church Recreation Committee, or that the church doesn't get its new organ? What does it matter if I'm made a laughing stock of the village, and that fool Marjorie will hold it over my head for the rest of my goddamned life —

MARIANNE:

Mama!

Marianne is astounded. Martha clamps her hands over her mouth then together in prayer and looks to the heavens.

MARTHA:

Oh my goodness, forgive me, Lord. It was the beer talking. Thank the Lord nobody heard me.

MARIANNE:

I did.

Suddenly the door swings open and Andrew jumps through with a flourish. A good-looking, athletic young man, Andrew has been away at college for the last five months. He's Martha's favorite and knows it.

ANDREW:

Ta da!

MARIANNE/MARTHA:

Andrew!!

Both Marianne and Martha rush to Andrew and cover him in hugs and kisses. He is pushed back by the rush. He enjoys it for a moment then starts to push them away, trying to salvage his sense of machismo. During all this, David slips quietly into the room, carrying a portable typewriter. David is Marianne's common-law husband, a stuffed shirt with an overly developed sense of office and life protocol. He is an Indian yuppie.

ANDREW:

Okay, that's enough, that's enough. (
To Marianne
) Geez, God only knows where your lips have been.

MARTHA:

You watch that mouth of yours, young man.

MARIANNE:

Remember, she's small but wiry.

David manages a feeble entrance.

DAVID:

Ta da!

Martha notices him but Marianne doesn't acknowledge him.

MARTHA:

Oh hello, David. (
Back to Andrew
) He looks thin. Does he look thin to you, Marianne?

MARIANNE:

I think he's put weight on. Is that muscle in there? Don't tell me they actually make you work at that college of yours, Mr. Soon-To-Be Special Constable.

Marianne pokes Andrew affectionately. He tries to fight her off but she outmaneuvers him in the way only a big sister can.

MARTHA:

Are you hungry, Blue?

ANDREW:

Hungry ain't the word, Mom.

MARTHA:

You poor boy! You must be starving.

Andrew shrugs as he grabs a brownie and starts to eat it.

MARIANNE:

How come he gets to have a brownie?

MARTHA:

He's a growing boy.

MARIANNE:

You never gave me brownies when I was a growing girl.

MARTHA:

(
Points to Marianne's waist
) You grew without me. When I was your age, I was thin as a rail.

MARIANNE:

That's because baloney hadn't been invented yet.

DAVID:

Marianne, can I talk to you for a minute, please? It's business.

MARIANNE:

When isn't it? Look David, today's a holiday. I don't want to even think about work. I just want to go to the powwow.

DAVID:

There are things you have to attend to. We all must abide by the rules. The band office is a finely tuned instrument that must be held together.

MARIANNE:

It's a group of cousins. (
Notices the typewriter
) What's that?

DAVID:

Your date for the powwow.

MARIANNE:

David, no!

Meanwhile, Martha is preoccupied with Andrew.

MARTHA:

(
To Andrew
) You need a haircut, you do, Blue. Definitely need one, eh Marianne?

Marianne begins to answer but is cut off by her mother.

MARTHA:

Are you eating okay in the city?

Andrew starts to answer but is cut off too.

MARTHA:

It doesn't matter. You can eat good here, and rest up too. You look kind of tired.

ANDREW:

It was a long trip. Now that I'm here, is there anything you want me to do?

MARTHA:

Get out. Go have some fun today. There's plenty enough time for work tomorrow.

MARIANNE:

(
Surprised
) What? Let him cut up a turnip or something.

MARTHA:

He'll do no such thing. A man in the kitchen gives me the willies. Blue, remember the time your father tried to roast that chicken in the oven?

ANDREW:

Oh yeah, I remember, but it all turned out for the best. We got to like the new house.

MARTHA:

Get out of my kitchen, young man.

MARIANNE:

Spoiled brat.

ANDREW:

Fine with me. And Marianne, don't work too hard, you know how I worry about you.

Andrew grabs another brownie as he starts to leave.

MARIANNE:

(
Smiles wickedly
) Have all the brownies you want, little boy Blue, have a bunch. I made them special for you.

ANDREW:

Why? What's in them? Are these some of your funny brownies?

MARIANNE:

Of course not. Go ahead, take another one. From a sister to a brother.

ANDREW:

Mom! What did she put in them?

Martha ushers the nervous Andrew out the door.

MARTHA:

Don't pay any attention to her, Blue. Go enjoy yourself. (
She walks by David
) Nice to see you, David.

DAVID:

Thank you, Martha. Cooking heartily I see.

Martha exits carrying some dishes. David spots Marianne trying to sneak out the door.

DAVID:

The report, Marianne.

MARIANNE:

Damn, another four feet and I could've made it.

DAVID:

Marianne, you know the council. Unlike me, they don't have a sense of humor. That computer was a major investment for the office. It was either that or the sauna. They won't stand for another incident..

MARIANNE:

The computer just crashed, that's all. It crashed and there wasn't one single, stupid thing I could do about it.

DAVID:

To most people, crashing a system means losing all their computer programs. To you it means dropping the damn thing on the floor. The band manager insists —

MARIANNE:

For god's sake, his name is Frank.

DAVID:

The band manager insists it be on his desk tomorrow morning by 9 A.M. sharp.

Martha enters with some dirty dishes.

MARIANNE:

But the powwow …

DAVID:

… will have to wait.

Martha plops a stack of dishes in front of Marianne.

MARTHA:

Dishes.

MARIANNE:

But …

MARTHA:

(
Firmly
) Dishes.

Marianne looks sadly at the report, then the pile of dishes.

MARIANNE:

Sometimes I think they breed when they're alone in the sink.

DAVID:

I'm off to run some errands but I'll pop by later to see how you're doing. Good luck, sweetheart.

MARIANNE:

I'll never get out of here. I wonder what the evil stepsisters are doing?