Girls Can Hunt by Rick Butts

A ghost story set against the backdrop of a seminal moment in Canadian nation-building: a steam locomotive of the Grand Trunk Railway makes it all the way from Montreal to Toronto in a single day in 1856. Four years later, in Belleville the ghosts have gathered to consider what it means for the future of their family. And whether they can give an orphan baby a father.

A man returns as a ghost to his family’s home in Belleville in the region of Canada West in the Province of Canada. It is 1860 and two years since he left Belleville without a word to his only surviving family, the twin brother with whom he had been living as they managed the family business together. Their mother’s ghost is an abiding presence in the house as is Susanna Moodie and Charles Dickens.

A child born in Canada East in Montreal and now an orphan because of a fire in which both parents died is why the ghost Wally has come back to Belleville. A reconciliation between estranged brothers is necessary if the child is to have the promise of a life with a living father. And yet, a brother is dead and the other has had his fill of chatty ghosts.

With the guidance of their mother, the brothers find a way to cross the bridge that separates the living from the dead who watch over them. Together again, they come up with a plan to give the child the living father who died in the fire. To make it work, they have only to let a man die and bring a ghost back to life.

Keywords: Ghosts, Belleville, 19th century, fraternal twins, sibling relationships, family reconciliation, history of railway, Susanna Moodie, Charles Dickens.

Genre: Drama, Historical, Ghost Story
Acts: 2
Run time: 100 minutes
Suitable for students 14+

Cast size: 3 actors
Male roles: 2
Female roles: 1
Casting Notes: Although HARLAN and WALLY are twins, the actors need share only basic similarities such as race, age, height and general physical attributes. They should credibly be able to present as very similar but realistically they are twins because they say they are and have acted so for their entire lives. As children, they often switched identities to fool teachers and adults because it was fun. As adults, from a distance they can be mistaken for each other by people who know them only casually.