Last of the Wild Buffalo

by Ryan Patrick Welsh

The play is set in rural Michigan over the Christmas holiday where a family comes together and must sort through decades of resentment, jealousy, insecurity and the wrongs of younger versions of themselves. Last of the Wild Buffalo is about how we identify ourselves, the masks we wear, and the people we hurt along the way. Each character is deeply flawed yet yearning for closeness. Tensions rise as everyone in...

The play is set in rural Michigan over the Christmas holiday where a family comes together and must sort through decades of resentment, jealousy, insecurity and the wrongs of younger versions of themselves. Last of the Wild Buffalo is about how we identify ourselves, the masks we wear, and the people we hurt along the way. Each character is deeply flawed yet yearning for closeness. Tensions rise as everyone in the house exposes the skeletons in each other’s closets.
RUNNING TIME:
105 MINUTES
TIME:
The present.
PLACE:
Rural southern Michigan, probably not far off the I-94. Specifically, the childhood bedroom of JACK and
QUINN.
SCRIPT NOTES:
- The symbol ( / ) indicates that the next line of dialogue should begin and overlap the current line
of dialogue.
- If a word(s) appears in [brackets], that word is unspoken.

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Last of the Wild Buffalo

Recommended by

  • Molly Wagner: Last of the Wild Buffalo by Ryan Patrick Welsh
    “

    In THE LAST OF THE WILD BUFFALO, Ryan Patrick Welsh has created some wonderfully damaged and complicated characters, leading with the ugly sides first, and daring us to care deeply for them. It is a spectacular examination of the lengths we go to protect ourselves from vulnerability, fear, and shame and the facades we work so hard to build. With incredibly sharp and natural dialogue and so much going on just below the surface, these characters would be an absolute meal for an actor to play. This is one of those plays that sticks to your insides after it's over.

    In THE LAST OF THE WILD BUFFALO, Ryan Patrick Welsh has created some wonderfully damaged and complicated characters, leading with the ugly sides first, and daring us to care deeply for them. It is a spectacular examination of the lengths we go to protect ourselves from vulnerability, fear, and shame and the facades we work so hard to build. With incredibly sharp and natural dialogue and so much going on just below the surface, these characters would be an absolute meal for an actor to play. This is one of those plays that sticks to your insides after it's over.

    ”

Character Information

(4 Women, 2 Men)
CHARACTERS:
Jack 35. Large, powerfully built man. Still lives with his mother in his childhood
home.
Quinn 32. Jack’s brother. Smart. Lives and works in Chicago with his wife, Susan.
Susan 30. A lawyer in Chicago. Smart and assertive. Married to Quinn.
Kat 19. A college student who works full-time at a fried chicken stand. Worldly and
inescapably young.
Alexa 34. A nurse in Toledo. Home for the holidays.
Linda 60s. Midwest working woman with hard years etched on her face. Mother to Jack
and Quinn.
*The roles of KAT and ALEXA may be doubled if it fits within the vision of the production, and the scope
of the actor.
  • WILD BILL
    Host of “The Wild Buffalo Show” on Am radio, Wild Bill was one of the first in the wave of men’s rights activists. Giving voice to a generation of men in turmoil, he adds fuel to their fires with sharp and cutting “Truths.” But when a deadly blizzard snows him into his lonely radio shack in the middle of nowhere, he’s forced to contend with the cost of all his capital ‘T’ truths by which he’s lived his life.
    60s-70s
    Male

Development History

  • Residency, Activate Midwest New Play Festival, 2019