Undiscover'd Country

Written By: Scott Douglas

Synopsis: Undiscover’d Country tells the story of a conflicted young aboriginal man. He is haunted by a Cree-speaking ghost, but, having been raised outside of his culture and disconnected from his own heritage and language, he cannot understand a word this persistent ghost is saying. In his quest to be “normal” he takes a job in a government computer lab, but when the text of Shakespeare’s Hamlet accidentally gets downloaded into his brain, he sets off on a mad quest to avenge the death of his people and the usurpation of his home and native land. Undiscover’d Country is also the story of a superficially liberal-minded Prime Minister so consumed by fear that he becomes a caricature of himself, a journalist trying to escape from the pain of her reservation childhood, an archbishop desperately trying to make amends for past wrongs before dementia steals his memory, a psychiatrist who has locked himself away from the pain of the world, a security guard who is caught between the roles of knight and thug, and an idealistic Esperanto-speaking rave-girl.

History: First draft written for a Saskatchewan Playwrights' Centre 24-hour playwriting contest in 2001. Workshopped through SPC, Alberta Playwrights Network, Banff PlayRites Colony, and MAP, with dramaturgical support from Ben Henderson, D. D. Kugler, Stephen Heatley, Maureen Labonte, and Troels Jakobsen. Featured in SPC's "Spring Festival" and APN's "Fresh Ink Festival." Produced in 2005 at the Catalyst Theatre in Edmonton by the Undiscover'd Collective, directed by Ben Henderson.

Availability: Contact playwright.

Running Time (mins): 120+

Cast: 7M / 2F

Genres: Drama

Plays by Scott Douglas