Railbird

Length: 90 minutes (w/ intermission)

Genre: suspense/thriller

Cast: 5 men, 1 woman

Setting: a dining room / living room inside an uninviting, sparsely furnished house

Over a year ago, Trip beat the odds, winning more than money at a high-stakes poker game. Now, hosting a game of his own, he is again challenged by the same disrespectful, sore loser of an opponent. As cards are dealt, so too are old accusations, and, before long, the bitter rivalry erupts beyond the felt. It’s hearts versus diamonds, and the winner takes all—but this is no regular game of chance. In fact, everything has been carefully planned, yet no one predicted the cards fate has up its sleeve.

Railbird is the reworking of David’s 2007 (never produced) short film script, Fire Lake, which was inspired by the Bob Seger song of the same name. Even though Railbird is much improved over its predecessor, many of the original story elements remain, including the minimal set, unexpected twists, and the use of fortune-telling cards to foreshadow the fates of the characters.