Fat Men in Skirts

by Nicky Silver

Book annotation not available for this title.

Genres: Plays, Theatre, Fiction, LGBT

72 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1988

Reviews

[Mahtab Safdari · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sometimes a play doesn’t invite you in so much as shove you through a flaming room, smack you across the face, and lock the door behind you. And then it whispers, “Welcome, darling — abandon hope and take a seat.”

Fat Men in Skirts is the kind of play that makes you wonder whether Nicky Silver wrote it during a fever, a blackout, or a moment of divine clarity. It opens like a family drama that took a wrong turn into a parallel universe, and instead of correcting course, it just keeps accelerating. The result is a theatrical experience that feels both unhinged and meticulously intentional — a combination only Silver seems capable of pulling off.

What’s remarkable is how the absurdity never drifts into meaninglessness. Beneath the emotional detonations, the identity crises, and the… unconventional dietary choices, Silver is conducting a razor-sharp critique of the norms we pretend to uphold. He uses chaos the way other playwrights use metaphor: as a tool to expose the rot under the wallpaper. It’s dark, it’s funny, and it’s far more pointed than its wildness suggests.

Even decades after its premiere, the play still feels avant-garde — not in the academic, chin-stroking sense, but in the way it refuses to behave. Silver trusts the grotesque, the ridiculous, and the uncomfortable to reveal truths that polite realism would never touch. The result is a piece that’s as entertaining as it is unsettling, a reminder that sometimes the most honest way to critique society is to let the whole structure collapse and see who’s still laughing in the rubble.

[devin · Rating 5 out of 5]

perfect use of flashbacks, non linear time, and double casting. amazing play.

[Lexi Horn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Love Nicky Silver, but it is definitely a book one must be in the mood for.

[Thea Gloria · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cannibalism and theater? Yes.

[Anton Segers · Rating 2 out of 5]

Een vreemde, onbevredigende mix van enerzijds rauwe, choquante satire en anderzijds zwaar psychologisch drama.
Vooral een hartenkreet van een jongere tegen het materialisme en liefdeloosheid van 'America'.

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

This play was recommended to me because I expressed a liking towards Christopher Durang's works. I'm not so sure Nicky Silver is the answer or even in the same category. Sure, there's dark, off-beat humor, but Silver goes where Durang maybe only dreams of in his nightmares. Are Silver's characters wacky? Kind of, but they are more deranged. It does take a special gift to treat cannibalism and incest lightly. I think was a little much for me. There is not a lot of profanity in it, but the content is offensive. I see what the writer was going for, but this really wasn't my thing.

[Keturah Barchers · Rating 1 out of 5]

Ick.

[Krista · Rating 4 out of 5]

Made me laugh out loud, very odd and disturbing. Some fantastic comedic monologues!