The Unseen Hand, a play in one act by Sam Shepard.

Richard appeared in two Shepard plays during the 70's at the Royal Court, The Unseen Hand and The Tooth of Crime. Hand is a Science-Fiction piece, yet still is able to include cowboys, another of Shepard's favorite motifs.

The play takes place along an empty road in Azusa, California. "A to Z in the U.S.A" Blue, a cowboy, encounters Willie the Space Freak from Nogoland, (Richard) who tells him about the Hand, a controlling force that is seen by the indent on his head. Whenever his people's thoughts roam from what they should, the Hand presses down until they are "un-possessed".

Willie brings Blue's brothers, Cisco and Sycamore back to life in the hopes that the three will help save the captives of the Hand. A kid arrives (named "Kid") an all-american boy who loves everything about where he lives. The three brothers see him as a spy and are about to shoot him as he goes into a speech about just HOW much he loves everything.

Though the speech seems especially long-winded and soppy, it seems that the opposite of everything that is expressed in it is what Willie is looking for, so after the Kid has finally finished, Willie begins to recite the speech word for word, only BACKWARDS.

As he recites the backwards speech, he realizes that he is in control of the Hand and can defeat it on his own (and has). So he decides to go home to save his fellow well, I guess you'd call them "Nogolanders", leaving the brothers all alone on the road.

I am a visitor here. I came for your help. This is your world, do what you want with it.- Willie (the Space Freak)