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The Unnatural and Accidental Women is a play based on a true murder case in Vancouver that involved the deaths of at least ten women and many more “mystery” deaths of women in the East Hastings Street area unofficially referred to as “Skid Row.” All the women were found dead with a blood-alcohol reading far beyond safe human consumption, and all the women were last seen with Gilbert Paul Jordan, a local barber who frequented the bars preying on primarily middle-aged Native women. The coroner’s reports listed the cause of death for many of the women as “unnatural and accidental.”

CHARACTERS:
REBECCA (ages 4 and 30):	Mixed blood/Native—a writer searching for the end of a story.
ROSE (age 52):	English immigrant—a switchboard operator with a soft heart, but thorny.
AUNT SHADIE (age 52):	Native—mother qualities of strength, humour, love, patience.
MAVIS (age 42):	Native—a little slow from the butt down, but stubborn in life and memory.
THE WOMAN (age 27):	Native—looks and moves like a deer.
VALERIE (age 33):	Native—a big, beautiful woman proud of her parts.
VERNA (age 38):	Native—sarcastic but searching to do the right thing, the right way.
VIOLET (ages 5 and 27):	Native—an old spirit who grows younger to see herself again.
THE BARBERSHOP WOMEN:	A beautiful, sexy threesome that can move and sing.
	MARILYN (age 25): Native
	PENNY (age 30): Native
	PATSY (age 40): Native
THE BARBER (ages 30s and 60s):	White—short, balding, nice and creepy. Also transforms into THE MAN, THE ROMANTIC PARTNER, THE PILLOW, THE DRESSER, THE MAN’S SHADOW, THE AIRLINE STEWARD, and 2ND FATHERLY MALE VOICE.
RON (age 35):	A cop—handsome, with a nice body and a good sense of humour. Also plays THE LOGGER, and is IT until he is RON.
SFX VOICES:
EVAN (age 8):	VALERIE’s oldest son, wise and angry.
TOMMY (age 5):	VALERIE’s youngest son, naive and sweet.
THE OPERATOR:	A polite but repetitive telephone recording.
FATHERLY MALE VOICE:	THE WOMAN’S adopted father.
“Can I buy you a drink?”:	THE BARBER’s voice.

ACT 1

Scenes involving the women should have a black-and-white picture feel that is animated by the bleeding-in of colour as the scene and their imaginations unfold. Colours of personality and spirit, life and isolation, paint their reality and activate their own particular landscape within their own particular hotel room and world. Their deaths are a drowning-down of hopes, despairs, wishes. The killer is a manipulative embodiment of their human need. Levels, rooms, views, perspectives, shadow, light, voices, memories, desires. REBECCA’s journey through Act 1 should be a growing up through memory. Being in a memory, but present in time. Walking. Seeing. Time going by. Life—colour of memory and the searching. AUNT SHADIE and ROSE are on the top level from the beginning. In their own spaces and places. They are in their own world. Happy hunting ground and/or heaven.

Elements: Trees falling, falling of women, earth, water flowing/transforming.

ACT 2

Scenes in REBECCA’s apartment are present and in Kitsilano, but reflect the symptoms of urban isolation even without being on Hastings Street.

Flow: Scenes of hearing, shadow-seeing, consciousness, unconsciousness of what is around us/within us.

DEATH BY ALCOHOL The Vancouver Sun, October 22, 1988

“‘She was found lying nude on her bed and had recent bruises on her scalp, noses, lips, and chin … There was no evidence of violence, or suspicion of foul play,’ noted Coroner Glen McDonald.”

“——, a native Indian, had been drinking continuously for four days before she died … Coroner Larry Campbell concluded her death was ‘unnatural and accidental.’”

“—— drank enough to kill her twice. That’s the conclusion of a coroner’s inquiry into the native Indian woman’s death. She was found dead, lying face down on a foam mattress with a blanket covering her, in Jordan’s barbershop … At the time of her death, Coroner Campbell said there was no indication of foul play.”

“To get the blood-alcohol reading that—— had at the time of her death, experts say she would have had to drink about 40 ounces of hard liquor all at once. The mother of four died at Jordan’s barbershop … Coroner Mary Lou Glazier concluded—— ’s death was ‘unnatural and accidental.’”

“‘She had the highest blood-alcohol level reading of all the women.’ … He believes Jordan was finally stopped because he killed his daughter, who was not an alcoholic and who has family that insisted police look into her death. ‘He picked the wrong person. She was someone that someone cares about’ … No coroner’s report has been issued.”