When he learns that Ken is buying water rights, he responds with a gun and an icepick. The narrator in the currently popular film The Gunfighter tells us "a tough man can get out of a situation, but a smart man never gets himself into one." While that film spoofs itself, O'Gare embodies the proverb. O'Gare, the insider, is a contemporary version of the frontier-hero stereotype. Ken is the outsider, first described by the script as dressing "corporate casual" (4) and then later assessed by O'Gare as one of those "ol' slicks" who are always "trouble" (37). The catalyst for the action is embodied in a very Western-style conflict between insider and outsider. Shuttleworth has deftly woven a complex piece of ecocriticism focused on water supply into a suspenseful drama. O'Gare clearly controls what happens in the town with the same firm hand he uses to run his ranch. The final scene reveals O'Gare as sheriff with his "pet" Ken, putting forth the story that Ken failed in a suicide attempt. After an unspecified leap forward in time, we join O'Gare, the local rancher, who has registered his objection to Ken's plan with violence. After failing to win over a local teenager, however, Ken finds his hidden agenda to buy up water rights exposed. He invests in business after business and may be gaining a controlling interest in the town. As the play unfolds we learn of a plan to revitalize the town by building on its western frontier identity, and a newcomer, Ken Adams, seems to have the means. High Plains Fandango begins with a collage of characters who quickly establish the past and present of a failing small town in the High Plains of Nebraska.