Pulling Leather: A Queer Rodeo Fantasia

by Will Brumley

2021-2022 Playwrights Realm Writing Fellow
2021 Play Lab at the Valdez Last Frontier Theatre Conference
2018 Eugene O'Neill National Playwrights Conference Finalist

After failing to make it in New York, Glen moves back home to Kansas, but he feels even further away from his family than before—until he discovers that his Uncle Darby was the 1990 International Gay Rodeo Champion. Hopeful that a blood relative...

2021-2022 Playwrights Realm Writing Fellow
2021 Play Lab at the Valdez Last Frontier Theatre Conference
2018 Eugene O'Neill National Playwrights Conference Finalist

After failing to make it in New York, Glen moves back home to Kansas, but he feels even further away from his family than before—until he discovers that his Uncle Darby was the 1990 International Gay Rodeo Champion. Hopeful that a blood relative could also be a kindred spirit, Glen heads to Oklahoma to learn the art of six seconds and becomes an unexpected part of his uncle’s late-in-life family return. A kaleidoscopic desert road trip about the myths of masculinity and cowboys, Pulling Leather is etched in the iconography of the American West.

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Pulling Leather: A Queer Rodeo Fantasia

Recommended by

  • Elenna Stauffer: Pulling Leather: A Queer Rodeo Fantasia by Will Brumley
    “

    I was lucky enough to see this play when it was selected for a reading at Playwrights Realm, and it was powerful enough to stay with me these years later. Epic and intimate all at once, evoking the natural landscape of the West and the interior landscapes of men (and especially gay men) raised in that setting, Pulling Leather is poignant and probing and witty, and I sincerely hope I have the chance to see it fully realized on stage again soon.

    I was lucky enough to see this play when it was selected for a reading at Playwrights Realm, and it was powerful enough to stay with me these years later. Epic and intimate all at once, evoking the natural landscape of the West and the interior landscapes of men (and especially gay men) raised in that setting, Pulling Leather is poignant and probing and witty, and I sincerely hope I have the chance to see it fully realized on stage again soon.

    ”
  • Arthur M Jolly: Pulling Leather: A Queer Rodeo Fantasia by Will Brumley
    “

    Will Brumley has captured something epic and magnificent - and personal and true down to its core - in this play. The central relationship between Uncle and Nephew, both exploring the landscape of the American West and simultaneously the landscape of the gay experience across different generations is captivating and resonant. The staging possibilities alone should make any director leap for the chance to bring this one to life. Worth your time, and the emotional investment - you may, as I did, find tears in your eyes while reading it.

    Will Brumley has captured something epic and magnificent - and personal and true down to its core - in this play. The central relationship between Uncle and Nephew, both exploring the landscape of the American West and simultaneously the landscape of the gay experience across different generations is captivating and resonant. The staging possibilities alone should make any director leap for the chance to bring this one to life. Worth your time, and the emotional investment - you may, as I did, find tears in your eyes while reading it.

    ”
  • Nick Malakhow: Pulling Leather: A Queer Rodeo Fantasia by Will Brumley
    “

    What a nuanced and compassionate piece that examines masculinity, identity, the loneliness that can be associated with being a gay man, and complex family dynamics. Darby and Glen are such rich characters and their relationship is rendered beautifully here--what they get from one another feels real, organic, and poignant. The theatricality Brumley uses to tell this story is also thrilling, with the malleability of time/space, the balancing of spare lyricism with humorously observed naturalism, and lots of room for exciting and creative staging and movement work. I'd love to see a full...

    What a nuanced and compassionate piece that examines masculinity, identity, the loneliness that can be associated with being a gay man, and complex family dynamics. Darby and Glen are such rich characters and their relationship is rendered beautifully here--what they get from one another feels real, organic, and poignant. The theatricality Brumley uses to tell this story is also thrilling, with the malleability of time/space, the balancing of spare lyricism with humorously observed naturalism, and lots of room for exciting and creative staging and movement work. I'd love to see a full production of this!

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    ”
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Character Information

RODEO HANDS:
Actors play characters in Darby’s queer rodeo family, the Barnhardt immediate family, and all other supporting roles. The supporting roles can be fluidly interchanged. Voicing, mannerisms, and dress/props should work together to define roles.
  • Glen Barnhardt
    Darby’s nephew. Kansas bred, former New Yorker. Overconfident, a know-it-all, but empathetic and down on his luck.
    30s
    Any BIPOC
    Can be played by:
    • Actor Age
      30s
    • Actor Race/Ethnic Identity
      Asian, Pacific Islander, or Asian American,
      Black, African, Caribbean, or African American,
      Indigenous, First Nation, or Native American,
      Latinx/o/a or Hispanic,
      Middle Eastern, North African, or Arab American,
      Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander,
      South Asian or South Asian American
    • Actor Gender Identity
      Male
  • Darby Barnhardt
    A queer cowboy and foreman on an Oklahoma rancher. The former 1990 Mr. International Gay Rodeo Champion for all-around and representative of the myth of the American cowboy.
    50s-60s
    White
    Can be played by:
    • Actor Age
      50s,
      60s
    • Actor Race/Ethnic Identity
      White
    • Actor Gender Identity
      Male
  • Tippy Toulouse
    Part of the royal court of gay rodeo. Brash, quick wit comic.

    Missy / Mrs. Funk / Vendor 2 / Cowgirl Singer / Homer 3
    Glen’s mother / a neighbor / a vendor / a dream / the multiplicity of a healer
    40s-60s
    Transgender Female
    Can be played by:
    • Actor Age
      40s,
      50s,
      60s,
      70s+
    • Actor Gender Identity
      Female
  • Skeeter
    The owner and old-timer of the ranch.

    Also plays:
    Announcer / Joe / Eddie / Protestor 2 / Homer
    Rodeo Announcer / Darby’s father / a pocketbook character / a protestor / a healer
    50s-60s
    Any BIPOC
    Can be played by:
    • Actor Age
      50s,
      60s,
      70s+
    • Actor Race/Ethnic Identity
      Asian, Pacific Islander, or Asian American,
      Black, African, Caribbean, or African American,
      Indigenous, First Nation, or Native American,
      Latinx/o/a or Hispanic,
      Middle Eastern, North African, or Arab American,
      Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander,
      South Asian or South Asian American
    • Actor Gender Identity
      Male
  • Malcolm
    A hunky cowhand on Darby’s ranch.

    Also plays:
    Lou / Trevor / Dirk / Protestor 1 / Vendor 3 / Narrator / Bouncer
    Glen’s father / Glen’s first boyfriend / a pocketbook character / a protestor / a vendor / a cowboy narrator / a bouncer

    20s-30s
    Any BIPOC
    Can be played by:
    • Actor Age
      20s,
      30s
    • Actor Race/Ethnic Identity
      Asian, Pacific Islander, or Asian American,
      Black, African, Caribbean, or African American,
      Indigenous, First Nation, or Native American,
      Latinx/o/a or Hispanic,
      Middle Eastern, North African, or Arab American,
      Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander,
      South Asian or South Asian American
    • Actor Gender Identity
      Male
  • Leslie
    A lesbian bull rider, roper, and cowhand living and working on Darby’s ranch.

    Also plays:
    Heddy / Handler / Vendor 1 / Cowgirl Singer / Homer 2
    Darby’s mother / a handler / a dream / the multiplicity of a healer
    20s-30s
    Any BIPOC
    Can be played by:
    • Actor Age
      20s,
      30s
    • Actor Race/Ethnic Identity
      Asian, Pacific Islander, or Asian American,
      Black, African, Caribbean, or African American,
      Indigenous, First Nation, or Native American,
      Latinx/o/a or Hispanic,
      Middle Eastern, North African, or Arab American,
      Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander,
      South Asian or South Asian American
    • Actor Gender Identity
      Female,
      Non-binary

Development History

  • Reading, Play Lab at the Valdez Last Frontier Theatre Conference, 2021

Awards

  • Valdez Last Frontier Theatre Conference Play Lab
    Valdez Last Frontier Theatre Conference
    Selection
    2020
  • Eugene O'Neill National Playwrights Conference
    Finalist
    2018