James Witherell
James Witherell is Professor Emeritus at College of the Siskiyous, where he served for 34 years as Director of Theatre. In that capacity, he directed over 60 major productions and taught the full range of theatre classes. As a playwright, he specializes in fictional scenarios derived from Western American history. “The Perils of Pusher,” was originally written and produced for the centennial of Dunsmuir, California, which was originally named Pusher. However, it is readily adaptable to any community experiencing the building of the railroads.
Perils of Pusher
Melodrama by James Witherell
36 pages
4 m, 4 w
Duke Deadheader, the most rotten rascal on the railroad, plots to relieve the simple but honest stationmaster, Ralph Roundhouse, of the company's construction funds. Aided by his beautiful, but nasty, accomplice, Flora Flagstop, he burns down the lumber mill of our hero, Stanley Studmill, cons Ralph into signing a worthless contract for ties (Ralph thought they were railroad ties), and kidnaps our heroine Rebecca Roundhouse. All appears lost, but Duke has not reckoned with the mysterious Chinese foreman, Gan Dee, nor the ever-reliable Boxcar Betsy and her cou...