Bootlegger Blues: A Play

by Drew Hayden Taylor

This new comedy by the author of Toronto at Dreamer's Rock and Education Is Our Right is about love, family, and what to do with too much beer.A Set on a reserve, it follows the plight of Martha, a church-going, teetotaling woman who finds herself stuck with 143 cases of beer after a church fundraiser fails.A She decides to bootleg the beer, to the horror of her son Andrew, nicknamed Blue, who is a special constable on the reserve.Meanwhile, Andrew has fallen for a young woman he thinks is his cousin, and his sister Marianne is bored with her Indian Yuppie husband and finds herself attracted to a handsome dancer at the powwow.The pace is fast and vigorous in this romantic situation comedy.

Genres: Canada, Plays, Indigenous, Fiction

94 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1991

About the author

During the last thirty years of his life, Drew Hayden Taylor has done many things, most of which he is proud of. An Ojibway from the Curve Lake First Nations in Ontario, he has worn many hats in his literary career, from performing stand-up comedy at the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C., to being Artistic Director of Canada's premiere Native theatre company, Native Earth Performing Arts. He has been an award-winning playwright (with over 70 productions of his work), a journalist/columnist (appearing regularly in several Canadian newspapers and magazines), short-story writer, novelist, television scriptwriter, and has worked on over 17 documentaries exploring the Native experience. Most notably, he wrote and directed REDSKINS, TRICKSTERS AND PUPPY STEW, a documentary on Native humour for the National Film Board of Canada.

He has traveled to sixteen countries around the world, spreading the gospel of Native literature to the world. Through many of his books, most notably the four volume set of the FUNNY, YOU DON'T LOOK LIKE ONE series, he has tried to educate and inform the world about issues that reflect, celebrate, and interfere in the lives of Canada's First Nations.

Self described as a contemporary story teller in what ever form, last summer saw the production of the third season of MIXED BLESSINGS, a television comedy series he co-created and is the head writer for. This fall, a made-for-tv movie he wrote, based on his Governor General's nominated play was nominated for three Gemini Awards, including Best Movie. Originally it aired on APTN and opened the American Indian Film Festival in San Francisco, and the Dreamspeakers Film Festival in Edmonton.

The last few years has seen him proudly serve as the Writer-In-Residence at the University of Michigan and the University of Western Ontario. In 2007, Annick Press published his first Novel, THE NIGHT WANDERER: A Native Gothic Novel, a teen novel about an Ojibway vampire. Two years ago, his non-fiction book exploring the world of Native sexuality, called ME SEXY, was published by Douglas & McIntyre. It is a follow up to his highly successful book on Native humour, ME FUNNY.

The author of 20 books in total, he is eagerly awaiting the publication of his new novel in February by Random House as "One of the new faces of fiction for 2010", titled MOTORCYCLES AND SWEETGRASS. In January, his new play, DEAD WHITE WRITER ON THE FLOOR, opens at Magnus Theatre in Thunder Bay. Currently, he is working on a new play titled CREES IN THE CARRIBEAN, and a collection of essays called POSTCARDS FROM THE FOUR DIRECTIONS. More importantly, he is desperately trying to find the time to do his laundry.

Oddly enough, the thing his mother is most proud of is his ability to make spaghetti from scratch.

Reviews

[Barbara McEwen · Rating 4 out of 5]

A bit cheesy but I enjoyed it.

[Melinda Worfolk · Rating 3 out of 5]

Currently teaching this one in my adult literacy level English course. The students are enjoying it, especially my Aboriginal students who have lived on reserves. They tell me the characters and situations remind them of the rez and that the type of humour is familiar and enjoyable to them. It's challenging for them to read out loud since their reading levels are pretty low, but it's not frustrating and they don't get bogged down in it, so the dialogue is still snappy enough to be quite funny. I am enjoying it too--I've laughed out loud a couple of times listening to them read it, and laughed while reading it to myself to preview it.

The plot is fairly simple: Martha, a hardworking, clean-living mom to two grown children, has volunteered to help the rez church raise money. She's running the concession during the powwow weekend but has run into a problem: she let one of the other ladies at the church convince her to buy a ton of beer to sell, and now she's stuck with 143 cases of it. Further complicating things is the fact that she's against alcohol in principle but really, really needs to be rid of it. Martha's son, Andrew, has come back to visit from university, where he's training to become a special constable. He quickly meets up with Angie, the newest community member who is his age, smart, attractive, and seems to be the one person on the rez he's not related to. Meanwhile, his sister, Marianne, is having problems with her uptight, no-fun husband and is courting the attention of Noble, one of the visiting dancers.

I've read quite a bit of DHT's work, and I have liked all of it. I don't think this is as sophisticated as the other play of his I've read (The Berlin Blues). It's quite slapstick and the humour is broad, but at the same time the social commentary is definitely there.

This is a great play for lower literacy readers and has the bonus of being a crowd-pleaser.

[Heather Pearson · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you have picked up a copy of this play, then get ready to laugh.

Martha followed the advice of a fellow committee member regarding the the amount of beverages to order for the church fundraiser. Now she is stuck with 143 cases of beer she can't return. What is a teetotaling woman to do. Sell them, as in bootleg. There's a small catch or two, her son is home from police college, and her daughter and son- in-law work for the band council.

This play had me laughing out loud from beginning to end. I loved every minute. While the play was written to be set on any reserve in Canada, I think it could also be adapted to many small communities. I would love to see a performance of this work. I haven't read a play in years decades and now I am wondering why. More than likely it was the over studying of them that I did when in high school. Fortunately author Drew Hayden Taylor has several more that I am looking forward to reading.

[Susan Quinn · Rating 4 out of 5]

OK, so I have to confess I was in a hurry to download some books to read while travelling. Seeing that this was by Drew Hayden Taylor, (I'd read "Motorcycles and Sweetgrass" and "Cottagers and Indians" and loved his sense of humour), I clicked on it, somehow missing the fact that this was a play. And I don't normally read plays, especially ones that are getting to be 30 years old. With that as a background, I did in fact read it. And thoroughly enjoyed it.

It's a play, so it's a quick read. And to me, it stood the test of time. I did not find it dated and it contained the DHT sense of subtle, quirky humour that I had found in his other work. It's a little slice of First Nations life that is well worth reading.

[Lucile Barker · Rating 5 out of 5]

59. The Bootlegger Blues: a play by Drew Hayden Taylor
Fun play set on a reserve where a fundraiser has failed, leaving one of the organizers, Martha, a respectable churchlady, with 143 cases of beer. Whatcha gonna do? Sell it, of course, at the next powwow, even if your son is a special constable on the reserve. Lots of sweet subplots and great dialogue. I think I like Taylor better than Tomson Highway. More innocent and less tragedy.

[Cath · Rating 3 out of 5]

Even with my wealth of Indigenous reading and learning under my belt, I find these plays difficult to grasp the humour. Perhaps it is because I am reading it and not watching it, so dialect & actions are missing, but I think one needs to truly live on a reserve to fully appreciate the humour in Taylor's plays. I remain hopeful that one day I will be able to watch it from the stage.

[Trent · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was a decent comedy, especially in Act 2. The references were outdated since it was first made in the 90s. If it were to be done today, some of the references would have to be modernized.

[Herb · Rating 3 out of 5]

Funding the church via crime 101.

[Nicole · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was so fun!

[Susan Brunner · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book’s full title is Bootlegger Blues. It was a Winner of the Canadian Authors Association Award for Drama. In August of 2018, I was on a wonderful trip at Yellowknife, Northwest Territories to see the northern lights. When I was in a bookshop, I ask for a recommendation. The lady there suggested this book. The author, Drew Hayden Taylor has his own site here.

This is a short, comedic play that takes place on a reserve. I do not often read fiction, but her suggestion was just perfect for filling in some time on holidays. Both of my friends read and enjoyed it also. It has rather a simple plot, but that is probably why this comedy play works.

There is a good article about this play on Bix Books. There is another good review 49th Shelf. Drew Hayden Taylor has a video on YouTube.