HUNG! is the final play of the Beltridge Trilogy.
HUNG! first hit paper in January of 2023, and was first produced by Ember Theatre Co. in Las Cruces, NM, in November 2024. That production of HUNG! can be seen here:
https://youtu.be/Zp5btY9fGBs?si=o52BPkWG3b1vT_uQ
If you're interested in reading or producing HUNG!, please reach out to me at VaWoCook@gmail.com.
A New Western Comedy
Set in 1893, centered on a saloon that feels more like purgatory than a refuge, HUNG! follows the return of infamous outlaw Putner “Punter” Burch. A man who was publicly hanged and absolutely should be dead. When Putner finds himself trapped in a saloon, he shatters a fragile ecosystem of crooked gamblers, burned-out lawmen, and people whose lives he once ruined.
As debts build, old grudges flare, and romantic tensions boil over, the saloon becomes a pressure cooker of secrets and power plays. Watched over by a calm, friendly barkeep and guided by an enigmatic narrator, the town is forced to decide what justice really looks like, and whether redemption is something you earn or something you refuse.
Blending humor with sudden brutality and surprising tenderness, HUNG! is a dark western comedy about ego, guilt, and what it means to live after you should’ve died.
Lasso Cave is the first play in the Beltridge Trilogy.
Lasso Cave begun its life in April of 2024. The original script was never finished before the story underwent massive changes. The final line of the original script, which was a stage direction, read: He begins. And "begin" I did. A year later, I finished the first draft of the story as we know it today. Lasso Cave is currently being produced by the Ohio University Fringe Festival.
If you're interested in reading or producing Lasso Cave, please reach out to me at VaWoCook@gmail.com.
A Supernatural Western Thriller
Set in 1851, nine strangers take shelter from a violent desert storm and find themselves trapped inside a cave that feels older than memory. Magically embedded in the rock above them is a lasso, which mirrors the shape of the cave. As thunder shakes the earth and the exits seem to shift, these travelers do what people always do when death feels close: they talk. They joke. They flirt. They argue. They confess. Grudges amplify. New alliances form. Fear turns into philosophy, then into violence.
Each person arrives with a story about who they are, a lawman chasing redemption, a failed miner and his fierce wife, an eager writer romanticizing the West, his brilliant photographer sister, a charming salesman, a ruthless huntress, and two rough-edged ranch-hand drifters. But the cave has a way of stripping people down to their bones. Secrets slip. Masks crack. The line between who we pretend to be and who we are gets dangerously thin.
Lasso Cave is about fate, guilt, desire, and the stories we tell ourselves to survive. It’s funny and brutal. Tender and terrifying. A play where silence can be as loud as gunfire, where love feels like a trap, and where every choice echoes.
INK is the second play in the Beltridge Trilogy.
INK is currently being written.
INK dives into the supernatural nature of the town of Beltridge, and establishes the bizarre history that lies between HUNG! and Lasso Cave. Some familiar faces appear, and some faces grow unfamilar as the play goes on. While it is the second play in the trilogy, it is intended to be the finale. The correct watch order would be the order that the plays were released in. HUNG!, then Lasso Cave, then INK.
A Sprawling Western Mystery
Set in 1872, and narrated by historian V.W. Lemons, INK tells the story of Deborah Pink, a pinkerton agent who is assigned to a missing person case. Samuel Burch, a 17 year old boy from New York, has been kidnapped, and his family is being blackmailed. Deborah heads to Beltridge, California, to locate Samuel's uncle, Wesley, who might just be the key to this whole mystery. Finding trusted companions along the way, Deborah races to save Samuel and return him home safe. This sprawling, three act play twists and turns as truths are revealed, turning over rocks that ought not be turned over. History is written in INK, as they say.