Run to the Hills
Full Length Play, Horror Comedy / 4m, 3f
Inspired by the real life events of “The Slave Ranch” in the Texas Hill Country, “Run to the Hills” is a Horror Comedy that has been described as ”Cheech and Chong meet the Texas Chainsaw Massacre.” Set in Pecos County, Texas, in 1984, the story follows Glory and Otter: a pair of college-age, good-natured, dope smoking screw-ups who are hitchhiking their way back to California. The young couple accept a seemingly hospitable offer to enjoy a clean bed and hot meal at the remote ranch house of Roy and Marie Calhoun: a larger-than-life pair of West Texas land owners. However, that hospitality comes with a price, and the situation quickly snowballs from unsettling, to terrifying, to deadly. Laughs and chills abound in this darkly humorous reimagining of the notorious Texas true-crime story.
Production History
Run to the Hills was a finalist in the AACT NewPlayFest of 2022.
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Run to the Hills was workshopped at Playhouse 2000 in Kerrville, Texas, from June 9 - 21, 2022. A fully staged “book in hand” showing was performed at the Cailloux Theater on June 23.
A note on the text:
FDR said, “We have nothing to fear but fear itself.” Perhaps, but sadistic hillbillies with cattle prods are still terrifying, especially when they live in your own hometown.
In the fall of 2000 a true crime tv series came to Kerrville to film dramatic reenactments of our small town’s two most notorious incidents: Genene Jones “the baby killer,” and “The Slave Ranch.” I was cast as a slave on the slave ranch. My primary memory of the day consists of cowering on a dirty mattress in an old, dark barn as the director instructed a union actor from Austin to scream more horrifyingly as he was cattle prodded to death. Then I was paid seventy-five dollars, given a donut, and bussed back to town. Some years later, as I was pondering the challenge of writing horror for the stage, I reminisced on that day.
Comedy and Horror share a symbiotic relationship. Horror builds tension; laughter releases it. Bombarding an audience with emotional intensity runs the risk of viewers becoming numb to events transpiring on stage. Well placed comedy can serve as a reset for the audience, and allow for important moments to land more forcefully. While easier said than done, the trick to producing a comedic effect on stage is no great secret: write funny jokes, cast funny people. Horror proves to be a little more elusive.
Horror, in cinema, oftentimes relies on music, editing, camera angle, and realistic gore to frighten and horrify. With none of those tools at our disposal, how does one produce a horrifying effect on stage that a theater at any level of financial means can achieve? The nature of the situation, the psychology of the characters, and the insinuations of the words they say must provide our answer. The suggestion of horrible events past, or yet to come, can be more frightening than seeing the events themselves. What can scare us more than our own imagination? Nothing, I think, but sadistic hillbillies come in a close second.