The Aliens

by Annie Baker

Professional slackers and best friends KJ and Jasper spend their days talking music and Bukowski outside the back of a small coffee shop in Vermont. Seventeen-year-old Evan is eking out his summer working at the caf. When he meets the two young men he is irresistibly drawn to their world of magic mushrooms, philosophical musings and great-bands-that never-were.One of the freshest voices to come out of America in recent years, Annie Baker's gentle, engaging and deeply funny play introduces two cult heroes in the shape of KJ and Jasper, and puts modern day America under the microscope. What happened to the generation who never grew upThe Aliens opened at the Bush Theatre, London in September 2010. The play's world premiere was held at the Rattlestick Playwrights Theater, New York, in April of the same year.

Genres: Plays, Theatre, Drama, American, Read For School

80 pages, Paperback

First published March 1, 2011

About the author

Baker grew up in Amherst, Mass., and graduated from the Department of Dramatic Writing at New York University's Tisch School of the Arts. She earned her MFA from Brooklyn College.

Her play Body Awareness was staged off-Broadway by the Atlantic Theater Company in May and June 2008. The play featured JoBeth Williams and was nominated for a Drama Desk Award and an Outer Critics Circle Award. Circle Mirror Transformation premiered off-Broadway at Playwrights Horizons in October 2009 and received Obie Awards for Best New American Play and Performance, Ensemble. Her play The Aliens, which premiered off-Broadway at Rattlestick Playwrights Theater in April 2010, was a finalist for the 2010 Susan Smith Blackburn Prize and shared the 2010 Obie Award for Best New American Play with Circle Mirror Transformation.

Baker's adaptation of Anton Chekhov's Uncle Vanya premiered at the Soho Repertory Theatre in June 2012 and was called a "funky, fresh new production" by a New York Times reviewer. Her play The Flick premiered at Playwrights Horizons in March 2013. A New York Times reviewer wrote, "Ms. Baker, one of the freshest and most talented dramatists to emerge Off Broadway in the past decade, writes with tenderness and keen insight." The play received the Obie Award for Playwriting in 2013.

Baker teaches in the MFA program at Stony Brook Southampton. She was one of seven playwrights selected to participate in the 2008 Sundance Institute Theatre Lab. In 2011 she was named a Fellow of United States Artists.

Reviews

[Ian Hrabe · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another beautiful and devastating piece of literature from Annie Baker. This one lends some poetry to the world's burnouts and the writing is just...it's just so so so so so good. Every one of her plays I've read, the dialogue just puts you RIGHT THERE. The plays are quiet and they are built on myriad silences (I believe this one has a note that says if the play isn't half silences and pauses, you're doing it wrong), but they are impossible to put down and unforgettable.

[Stuart · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm pretty sure, after five plays, Annie Baker is my God now.

[Rhianna · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read this in two parts with a week long interval which was probably my first mistake... liked it but it left me cold to be honest. I could've definitely read this all in one go, in one day at least, it's 90 pages long cmon, but I really wasn't feeling it.
... Now I'm thinking about this thing I heard my great love Sheila Heti say in an interview which is that she thinks that boredom is an essentially avoidant experience, that often when you experience boredom you're blocking yourself from feeling something else. When it comes to this one, it's a very well-written play with sensitively sketched characters and yet I found myself so done with it.... and I think purely because it's about a couple of thirty-year-old dirtbag men who live with their mums, have never left their hometown, lecturing this naive teenager who crosses their path about real literature, grandstanding about their artistic integrity, and who are so affectedly cold and cynical yet so desperate for connection.... yeah ending up like this is my Worst Nightmare so of course I recoil from it like it's contagious.... Love Annie Baket though <3

[Charlie Lee · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read the collection of Vermont Plays last year and remembered enjoying this play and Nocturama especially. I was surprised to reread this though and find so much more depth.

This play perfectly captures a lost generation - a group of people who feel alienated by society and have fallen through the cracks, despite being relatively intelligent and creative. They spend their times analysing books and writing songs that will never make money. They mythologise parental figures, former hipees and suicides. The use of drugs has become a crutch. In every moment, the slow pacing is brimming with subtext.

Perhaps there are no other plays that quite so accurately capture a mood, as no one reading this can help but feel a sense of disconnection, frustration, mild depression. Its a snapshot of what it's like filling time as a social outcast. If I could give this play more stars, I would. I would also advise that it improves with a reread and that if you get the opportunity to see it live, take that opportunity.

[Alan · Rating 5 out of 5]

A devastating and beautiful play that was incredible to revisit years later. The subtextual references to the character's emotional states can let you start piecing together where the story is going to go for these characters who, like Bukowski, feel like Aliens, and how they manage to cope with that feeling of isolation.

[Wiley June · Rating 3 out of 5]

one of the only musicals i like

[Verba Non Res · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Aliens is a play filled with silence. In the previous instructions, Annie Baker establishes that the pauses should last, at least, 3 seconds. This gives a lot of room for directors and actors, who are obliged to do something (to say something) with those silences, and also to readers who are not used to cultivating a paused reading. The silence forces us to look for an additional meaning in what has just been said, and also in what will be said next. In the end, one of the characters' scream leaves the clear feeling that silence can also contain something terrible. This also invites a more compassionate look at its protagonists, Jasper and KJ, who seem to not be doing much, and haven't done much with their lives. Only they know what they keep silent about.

[Skyler · Rating 4 out of 5]

My first time with Baker’s work, per the recommendation of a friend. I don’t really like the “outcasts influencing an impressionable teen” trope, but this one grew on me—especially in the second act. Curious to pick up more of Baker’s work. 8.5/10.
___
2024 RATING SCALE:
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 9.25-10
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 8.25-9.25
⭐️⭐️⭐️6.25-8.25
⭐️⭐️4.25-6.25
⭐️ 0-4.25

*Overlap is to allow for subjective
differences in borderline ratings.

[Emma Sullivan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Annie Baker-athon. Need to be more adept at reading music but I like how the “ladder” sequence looks on the page (like a concrete poem) and that’s a matter of form that I don’t really think much about with plays!
Anyway she’s my hero

[Mallory]

A quite traumatic look at generational divides, the power of work ethic, and the (sometimes flawed) nature of art. Baker writes "millenial dialogue" so effortlessly that the characters' conversations don't even sound scripted. Not my favorite play by Baker, but still a good one.

[Janine · Rating 5 out of 5]

Annie Baker has such a unique and powerful narrative style and that can be clearly seen here, making something beautiful and tragic out of this seemingly non-existent plot. Nice and lingering!

[jessa · Rating 5 out of 5]

i was like “okay this sure is an annie baker play on par with the flick!” and then jasper’s death hit me like a truck i had to stop a minute to breathe

[Daniel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Minor key. Second act a little too quick moving compared to well established first one.

[EJ Paras · Rating 5 out of 5]

“No. No. She was like: the state of just having lost something is like the most enlightened state in the world. And I thought of that last night, and all of a sudden I felt incredible. I was simultaneously like being stabbed in the heart over and over again with this like devil knife but I also felt euphoric. And then I sat down and I wrote like twenty pages.”

Last week at the bar after our Friday classes, there was a moment when I was having a convo with my friends/classmates Dan and Romeo (this convo was about types of roles we want to play, specifically in regards to our Scene Study class). We bounced around a bit, but when we got to the subject of Annie Baker, I said I read The Flick and wanted to do Avery’s monologue from it; this inspired Dan to say to Romeo, “you know what… EJ would be really good as the kid in The Aliens.” Dan then shifted his attention to me, “I mean, you have a young face. It’d work. The kid’s Jewish, though… but still, I think you’d be great as the kid.”

“Sometimes the Fourth, like, depresses me.”

Boy, this was such an easy read! Finished in one sitting after beginning ~1am-ish and then writing this review at 3:15am -- great life choices once again, EJ. However fast it took me to read I’m sure it’d be at least three or four times as long to watch — so many pauses! And Annie Baker wrote in her note that “at least a third—if not half—of this play is silence.” I had to picture in my head, or feel it with some of the play’s haymakers of musings, how the silences filled the space. What wasn’t being said; what was being thought of. What the characters were afraid of talking about or diving deeper into — but they never had to, because they know. And we know as an (attentive) audience because Annie Baker goes Chekhov with this play. Not like I’m some Chekhov expert, but it's the idea of “Going Beyond” — of doing everything we can possibly be doing except talking about the thing.

I’m flattered Dan thought of me as being potentially a good fit for the role of Evan, the 17-year-old newbie employee at the coffeeshop, who is described as being “in a constant state of humiliation” when we first meet him. …Thanks Dan?

“Maybe you’re a genius too!”
Pause.
“Yeah.”

But it’s a great character. And I identified very much with his initial awkwardness, and then with how attracted and magnetized he was with his two new friends — who on the surface seem like 30+ year old burnouts, drinking on the back porch of a coffeeshop shooting the shit every day.

End of Act One was so beautiful, with distinctly some of my favorite moments and ideas. When I finished reading the play, I had to re-read excerpts of Jasper’s novel that he was reading to KJ (and later Evan). It hits so hard. The ideas of immense… disappointment. The lack of fulfillment. That on the character’s journey of America, a lot of American cities look like… other American places. America looks like the rest of America. Jasper’s disillusionment is hidden in plain sight; Annie Baker is such an incredible writer.

Act Two is so disarming, it’s a magic trick. Evan has one scene where he has a phone call with someone he met at the camp he was at, and ugh, I teared up a bit at the implication of it all. There were a couple moments between KJ and Evan that really got me in Act Two.

Dane DeHaan was the original Evan of The Aliens. There’s something about Dane DeHaan that I think I can channel… I’ve always loved the work I’ve seen of him. His performance in Chronicle moved me immensely when I was in high school. He was 27 playing a high school sophomore or something. …I can do the same!!! Lmao.

[Jessica López-Barkl · Rating 3 out of 5]

This play was on a list of "The Best in the past [insert] years", so I put it on my Summer Reading list, to get caught up on theater from the past 10ish years that I've been too busy to read for pleasure...

Anyway, I read this one today, and it reminded me of all the really smart/tortured guys I hung around when I was in high school and in my early years of college. I grew up in Northern Idaho, not too dissimilar from Vermont (albeit the politics in Vermont are so much better than Idaho, but I digress...), and the beautiful scenery/harsh climate lent itself to hanging out in coffee shops, your local Denny's/Perkins/Shari's or all three, brew pubs, dive bars, someone's backyard, etc. You would spend hours listening to music, analyzing music, watching films, analyzing films, reading books, playing board games, or just talking for hours and hours and hours. My husband still finds it odd that I feel completely comfortable setting up shop in a given restaurant for hours on end. But...that's the culture.

This play was so familiar, and then it added this WAITING FOR GODOT feeling; this, "I'm-waiting-for-something-to-happen-or-for-someone-to-show-up," and...nothing does...except what is happening all over rural/small America: opioid overdose... Which then leaves a new existential taste in one's mouth, with no distinct answer...

On top of all of the previously stated, it is a musical? I will have to look this up, but I'm not sure of the tone of the music, etc., and I think that will add a whole other alienation effect to THE ALIENS.

I'm not sure if I liked this play. I respected it, maybe I would like it more with the music, but...as of writing this review...I'm just not sure...

[CJ Spear · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the first play I've read by Annie Baker. In the stage direction she specifies that each of the many pauses written into the script must be observed from 3-10 seconds. This recurring silence underscores the minimalism that takes center stage. Everything else is quiet and unobtrusive.

The cast, plot, and setting are as simple as possible. The play is bare-boned by all standards except one, the depth of character. The individuals portrayed may not seem to be the extraordinary thinkers they think themselves to be, but that's not what Annie Baker intended anyway. Instead, through lyrical minimalism, she shows that even people who seem shallow from the outside are anything but. There is no such thing as a shallow human because we are each of us complete with history, trauma, relationships, and experiences that are meaningful regardless of how cinematic they may or may not have been.

Baker touched a cord for me when 'KJ' sets himself to repeating 'ladder' continuously during the climax of the play. It is simple, and it works.

[Will Schmitt · Rating 5 out of 5]

ANNIE BAKER IS MY FAVORITE PLAYWRIGHT!!! Her work is just so incredible. The language in this one, as in all her others, is so stripped down and has an unintentional poetic feeling to them. Annie Baker writes about people and their stories that no one cares about. But she does and is able to tell of them with beauty and truth and that is what I admire so much. Because of this I think Baker contributes to the growth of what a play can be and who it can be about. Her style is unique and appreciated.
The Aliens is a cool show that makes you think. It also gave me an opportunity to hear a part of someone’s story who is very different from me. I loved the idea of getting to see or be apart of this production one day.
Not really a spoiler in terms of plot but also could be considered a spoiler in terms of content: My favorite moment was the meditative monologue on the word “ladder”. How powerful? I just love the idea of it and will be pondering it for awhile.

[Laur · Rating 3 out of 5]

Annie Baker's writing is so true to life that it feels like you've stumbled upon real conversations. I would love to see more of her work done live. I saw a scene from this play in class and had to read it in full.

I love her opening instructions with the pauses. And how to pronounce Andrea. It really sets the tone for when they talk about her.

All of the characters were dynamic and interesting and had so much going for them even though Evan for instance says relatively little throughout he still goes on a whole character arc.
KJ leaves you asking more questions but also with a kind final message for Evan at the end of the play we see that he really does have a good heart. And as Jasper dies during intermission he is sort of left unfinished which kind of adds to his mystique both for us as the audience and for Evan who really looked up to him for whatever reason.

I definitely liked Flick better but this was quite something!

[Verba Non Res · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Aliens es una obra repleta de silencio. En las indicaciones previas, Annie Baker establece que las pausas deberán durar, como mínimo, 3 segundos. Esto les da mucho espacio a los directores, y a los actores, que se ven obligados a hacer algo (a decir algo) con esos silencios, y también a los lectores que no suelen cultivar una lectura pausada. El silencio nos obliga a buscarle un sentido adicional lo que se acaba de decir, y también lo que se va a decir después. Al final, el grito de uno de los personajes deja la sensación patente de que el silencio también puede encerrar algo terrible. Eso invita también a una mirada más compasiva de sus protagonistas, Jasper y KJ, que parecen no estar haciendo mucho, y no haber hecho mucho de sus vidas. Lo que callan lo saben solamente ellos.

[Mary · Rating 5 out of 5]

I had difficulty reading this play, as so often happens with plays. I found it on youtube, though, and seeing it performed made all the difference. Two disenchanted guys, KJ and Jason, hanging out behind a coffee shop. A younger Evan, who is working at the coffee shop, shows up. His youth and innocence is in contrast to the jaded outlook of the other two. Evan reminded me of Holden Caulfield in "Catcher in the Rye," so young and trying so hard to seem older and harder. Things change for all these characters. Great play, but it requires some patience. See it, then read it. I ended up loving it.

[Lindsay Heller · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was one page into reading this play when I realized I had seen it performed years ago. I remember liking it well enough, despite its total lack of female characters. But this play really stuck with me, even though I couldn't remember the name. It's a really quiet story about two loafers with delusions of grandeur that they may or may not be able to back up. And that's really all. But sometimes that's enough.

[Shelley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Love Annie baker. She shows you how weird everyday life is. You feel something off of this random brief relationship between the characters (a strange grouping given the age and lifestyle differences) and how Jasper dies (a shock) and Evan’s devastation. I like how young and believable the dialogue is. The prose bit in the middle was fun too. Would be curious to see this performed and hear it with the music and pauses she has written in.

[Tyler]

Beautiful. This reminded me of my relationship to a co-worker 10+ years my senior at my (now old) job who became one of my very best friends. The way Baker portrays unsure footing in its many forms here is vital and truthful. Between this and The Flick, she's become one of my favorite writers in any medium.

[Nora · Rating 4 out of 5]

feels like the start of what annie baker really solidified in THE FLICK but even so i love this small story—it just meanders along and for a while i wasn't sure how taken in i was by it but the whole "ladder" thing and the turn that follows absolutely nailed me in the gut. just incredibly emotional stuff. again, would kill to see this staged.

[J Dubyuh]

A few weeks ago I saw the opening of Baker’s new play. I’m going to read all of her plays again so I can think more richly about how I love Annie Baker.

Baker is the great documenter of American jobs. Here, there is a barista, and two unemployed men who understand that wage work is a dead end but don’t have any other ideas.

[Jade · Rating 5 out of 5]

So so great. God. I loved it when my friends (who weren’t really my friends at the time) put it on in college and I love it now. Just equal parts smart, funny and sad. Dialogue is so real and you fall in love with the characters in such a short time. Please, Richard Linklater, direct an Annie Baker play.

[E.M. Jeanmougin]

Pretty good. Kind of funny. Kind of sad. Kind of hopeful. Simple on the surface, but complex underneath. Very short; there's really only three characters. Several parts made me laugh out loud. One left me with a lump in my throat. Would recommend reading aloud and following the "Pause" instructions at the front of the book to get the full effect.

[Renarde · Rating 4 out of 5]

Holy crap but this was amazing. I read the entire book in one sitting while sitting outside on a little bench overlooking the water, and let me tell you: it was an experience. There is just so much one can do with this play. I wasn't expecting to enjoy it so much, but it was great!

[Erin · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love this play. People thought that drama was getting realistic when they started bringing furniture and animals on stage, but it turns out that realism is actually forcing your audience to sit through the awkward silences that make life what it is. I love Annie Baker's plays is what I'm saying.

[Shannon McGovern · Rating 5 out of 5]

UGH TEAR ME UP INSIDE