Friendly's Fire (or, Guy Friendly Meets the Saint of Thieves)

by John Patrick Bray

Guy Friendly has a problem. He’s left his cabin in Alaska for the first time in quite some time. He picks up a tourist for casual sex, but it goes terribly wrong as she turns out to be a tooth collector, sending him into a fevered dream that blends his memories of his deceased brother and his ex-wife with life-size Man-Man (nod to He-Man) action figures manifesting all around the cabin. Luckily, his friend Todd...

Guy Friendly has a problem. He’s left his cabin in Alaska for the first time in quite some time. He picks up a tourist for casual sex, but it goes terribly wrong as she turns out to be a tooth collector, sending him into a fevered dream that blends his memories of his deceased brother and his ex-wife with life-size Man-Man (nod to He-Man) action figures manifesting all around the cabin. Luckily, his friend Todd has just entered when Friendly decides it’s time to get in the tub and head to the North Pole to have a reckoning with Santa, the Saint of Thieves. Friendly’s Fire is the story of friendship, demonstrating the lengths of what people will go through to preserve each other’s sanity.

"...incredibly moving in story and almost psychedelic in atmosphere. [...] All around, “Friendly’s Fire” was an adventure. I walked out of the theatre with a feeling that I couldn’t quite place. A feeling that a great change had happened but I wasn’t sure what exactly. It kept me engaged. It moved me. It left me with plenty of questions and desperate for more. And isn’t that what we all hope to get from good theatre?" - Onstage Blog

"It's a fabulous, open-hearted ride that fans of Terry Gilliam will surely enjoy." - Theatre is Easy

"A surrealistic fantasia depicting the picaresque travails of a disaffected Gulf War vet that’s well played, technically accomplished and perhaps profound." - TheatreScene.net

"Expect some theatrical work the like of which you have probably never seen." - Bristol County Herald

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Friendly's Fire (or, Guy Friendly Meets the Saint of Thieves)

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  • Nora Louise Syran: Friendly's Fire (or, Guy Friendly Meets the Saint of Thieves) by John Patrick Bray
    “

    I needed to read something modern. Fresh. I got it. Bray plunges us into the mind of a damaged soldier and while so much of this story is just plain strange, it works. It all comes together. Guy Friendly may be hanging on by a thread, but we're not; the audience will be fully engaged. We empathize with Guy Friendly through his delirium, flashbacks, visions, regrets for actions taken and not taken... I could see Wes Anderson Rushmore-like battle scenes on stage or really simple staging, as the imagery is there in the masterful dialogue. Bravo.

    I needed to read something modern. Fresh. I got it. Bray plunges us into the mind of a damaged soldier and while so much of this story is just plain strange, it works. It all comes together. Guy Friendly may be hanging on by a thread, but we're not; the audience will be fully engaged. We empathize with Guy Friendly through his delirium, flashbacks, visions, regrets for actions taken and not taken... I could see Wes Anderson Rushmore-like battle scenes on stage or really simple staging, as the imagery is there in the masterful dialogue. Bravo.

    ”
  • Donald E. Baker: Friendly's Fire (or, Guy Friendly Meets the Saint of Thieves) by John Patrick Bray
    “

    This is a superb entry into the world of PTSD, where nightmares, memories, and figments of imagination become as real to the audience as they are to the soldier who was unable to save his brother after a helicopter crash during the Gulf War. This moving play needs to be read and produced. An eye-opening masterwork.

    This is a superb entry into the world of PTSD, where nightmares, memories, and figments of imagination become as real to the audience as they are to the soldier who was unable to save his brother after a helicopter crash during the Gulf War. This moving play needs to be read and produced. An eye-opening masterwork.

    ”
  • Philip Middleton Williams: Friendly's Fire (or, Guy Friendly Meets the Saint of Thieves) by John Patrick Bray
    “

    The mind and what it goes through after trauma is a mystery trip, barely understood but still meaningful to the person dealing with its seemingly permanent companionship. In this inventive and stunningly well-crafted play, we hear, see, and feel what Guy Friendly carries with him when he's triggered by the recollections. His imagination is on frantic overdrive, yet it all leads him to seek the answers and the peace and friendship he needs and deserves. Aside from the masterful lesson in how to craft a mesmerizing story, John Patrick Bray gives us someone to deeply care about.

    The mind and what it goes through after trauma is a mystery trip, barely understood but still meaningful to the person dealing with its seemingly permanent companionship. In this inventive and stunningly well-crafted play, we hear, see, and feel what Guy Friendly carries with him when he's triggered by the recollections. His imagination is on frantic overdrive, yet it all leads him to seek the answers and the peace and friendship he needs and deserves. Aside from the masterful lesson in how to craft a mesmerizing story, John Patrick Bray gives us someone to deeply care about.

    ”
View all 9 recommendations
Characters:
Guy Friendly, late 20s/early 30s, a Bee Herder, former Army pilot, and the embodiment of the frontier spirit.
Todd, late 20s, a relocated Texan, part-time deputy, and pawnbroker. For the majority of the play he wears a spacesuit: NOTE: it should be a cheesy send-up of a 1950’s b-movie spacesuit, not something one needs to purchase from NASA.
Jessica, 20s, a punky girl who collects teeth.
Queen Bee, late 20s/early 30s, a bee who, at times, stands in for Friendly’s wife.
Actor 1: (20s-?)
Moss Pete, a man made entirely out of peat moss
Bera Medved, A Polar Bear Rug
Santa Claus, The Saint of Thieves and Pawnbrokers
Bee 1, a bee
Reynolds, a local deputy (Base character)
Actor 2: (20s)
JASON (aka Jason Friendly), Friendly’s brother; a deceased UH-60 Gunner (Base Character)
Poacher, a very dangerous man
Voice of Dennis, off-stage character
Bee 2, a bee
4M 2W with doubling. Note: the doubling is not “suggested.” Rather, each Actor has a “base” character which manifests in different ways during the course of the play.

Development History

  • Reading, Wallace Theatre, 2022
  • Reading, Appalachian Festival of Plays and Playwrights at Barter Theatre, 2015

Production History

  • Professional, Rising Sun Performance Company, 2019
  • Professional, Barter Theatre, 2017
  • Fringe, Athens Playwrights Workshop at the University of Georgia , 2016

Awards

  • Kernodle Playwriting Award
    University of Arkansas
    Finalist
    2016
  • Appalachian Festival of Playwrights and Plays
    Barter Theatre
    Winner
    2015
  • Princess Grace Playwriting Foundation Award
    Princess Grace
    Semi-Finalist
    2017