I'm Gonna Marry You Tobey Maguire

by Samantha Hurley

Genres: Plays, Theatre, Fiction

76 pages, Paperback

Published June 1, 2024

Reviews

[Savannah Brooks · Rating 4 out of 5]

I desperately need Ayo Edebiri to play Shelby in this

[Eli · Rating 5 out of 5]

Huge win for loser tweenagers who were obsessed with things. Such a hilarious play. This needs to be produced everywhere.

[Cam Jo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oh this was for those CRINGE cringe girlies (me).
I’ve never laughed so hard at something only to be emotional obliterated in a following scene, love love LOVE this play!
Need more cringe Y2K based plays

[maya greenway · Rating 5 out of 5]

GUYS THIS PLAY IS SO SO GOOD PLEASE BORROW MY COPY

[Evan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am very pleasantly surprised with how much I enjoyed this play!

[Abby Bowling · Rating 5 out of 5]

i want to direct this so bad. yall don’t get it. can it be my directing scene for class? thanks.

[JulieChristine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Completely unhinged farce about a girl who kidnaps her idol, Tobey Maguire. Hurley did Tobey dirty in this shockingly raunchy whirlpool of millennial callbacks and the stage directions take on a character of their own, further adding to the hilarity of the piece. Unrealistic as it's meant to be, there is a deeper layer when you consider Shelby's motivations both in the kidnapping and the story she weaves to justify it.

[Evie Dittmann · Rating 4 out of 5]

Super funny -- while there were a lot of references I didn't totally get, and this was very clearly for millenials, I thought that this play was so well done. There are so many moments that are almost cinematic, and Hurley's writing really encourages actors to just go batshit crazy, which I always appreciate

[Laney · Rating 5 out of 5]

This play is a flawless masterpiece and if they ever stage it on Broadway Daniel Radcliffe needs to play Tobey Maguire, and Elijah Wood needs to play the Poster and Tobey Maguire should not be involved at all.

[DexterityEmma · Rating 4 out of 5]

insanity

[•Kait• •Boers• · Rating 5 out of 5]

I don’t think the words exist in the English language for how freaking hilarious the show is. I was cackling on almost every single page. It’s so bat shit insane like there are no words—just read it and let yourself be baffled and enjoy.

[Joleen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I can imagine so many hilarious celebrity castings of this lol

[Ben Cruz · Rating 4 out of 5]

Incredibly insane and absolutely absurd. What a fun read

[Marielle Sciore · Rating 5 out of 5]

Craziest play I have ever read & I loved it so much!! I will never look at Tobey the same

[Hannah Whitson · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am biased.

[PC · Rating 5 out of 5]

(4.8)

I absolutely loved this play! It was endearing, funny, and very thought provoking!

The concept was very innovative, and the character development was great. Shelby was both annoying and extremely lovable, like most lovestruck 14 year olds. After a while, I felt sad reading this play, because Shelby’s mental health state was so concerning. She has no in-person friends, but she had virtual friend, which showed the power of the internet in creating community. Meanwhile, Tobey had a sweet nature underneath, but was clearly burnt out actor trained to perform like an animal. Tobey was struggling with fans falling in love with the idea of him, but not him as an actual person.

To me this play was so powerful, because I was forced to think deeper about the implications of fame. For people struggling with mental health issues, they create paranormal relationships, while famous people are examined under a microscope of a curated version of themselves. Therefore the idea of fame and the notion of fantasies go hand-in-hand. Tobey gets excited by the illusions of fame and his self importance. While fans like Shelby fall in love with fantasy of celebrity culture. What I loved about this play was that Shelby was forced to confront her fantasy of Tobey, and she realized that she did not really love him. She loved the fantasy her mind made up pre-meeting him, so meeting him was a let down. Don’t meet your heroes.

Finally I like how the ending explains how Shelby’s trauma forced her to escape into fabrication; therefore the audience who doesn’t read fan fiction can understand the allure of the hobby!

Overall, I found the writing flowed very nicely and was very funny. I would definitely read this again

[JuJu Palmer · Rating 4 out of 5]

THIS WAS SO UNHINGED, FUNNY, RELATABLE, AND CHAOTIC. felt like i took a backward somersault into my childhood “star struck” obsession years. i’ve had this on my radar for a while and really wanted to see it live last july but it sadly wasn’t running long enough. definitely lived up to the expectations, i can only imagine how awesome it was to watch! anyone who obsessed/idolized over *that one* disney channel shawdy will eat this up

[Brooklyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

There’s so much I loved about this play! It was well written, very funny, and such a unique premise. As someone who has lived a fan obsession, it’s so much fun to read. But the language and adult material makes it something I wouldn’t recommend or be able to produce or direct. It’s got some good monologue material, and is very true to the tween experience, I just wish that tweens could read or see it. A fun read, not really a fun play.

[Sophie · Rating 5 out of 5]

[lsu lab season, role: Shelby]

brilliant play, brilliant cast, brilliant crew. it is going to be extremely difficult if not impossible to capture the excitement and enthusiasm surrounding this play again. this is unquestionably my proudest performance (got the UTIE to prove it) and most enjoyable show experience to this day. this show awakened a level of love for performing i didn't know was possible. i'll be chasing the high of that one wednesday night for the rest of my life.

[Adam Schreiner · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is like Stephen King’s Misery, only if Paul Sheldon was Tobey Maguire and Annie Wilkes was a middle school wattpad girl with a little too much trauma.

Parts of this are genuinely great with some very creative choices, but overall it feels rushed and there’s a bit too much exposition at times.

[Lark · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had such a fun time reading :) I’m honestly surprised it already had a Samuel French copy because it’s SO new and this copy feels like a living script rather than a posterity version
WHICH IS NOT to say I don’t love reading Hurley’s voice in the staging text. I love seeing someone successfully leave their draft voice in

I hope I get the chance to see this somewhere!

[juliaorrwhat · Rating 5 out of 5]

i’m so obsessed!!! i just got finished working the play MISERY by stephen king: and i find it funny how similar they are. laughed out loud - great monologues. loved the incorporation of the poster character vs tony himself. so freakin smart!!

[z · Rating 3 out of 5]

— three and a half stars
the stage directions were really well written and i could see this working with the right actors, but there wasn’t enough resolve for me. i think shelby could’ve been a lot stronger of a character, this the right actor could make up for what it lacks

[Druva · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 - what seemed like a fun, cringey, and comedy-of-errors time had moments of wishing to pierce below the veil of fame, media-obsession, and fan culture; I just wish it committed to that more and transcended beyond being just ‘fun’ for the sake of ‘fun’ — nevertheless, it was, indeed, fun!

[lil.liliana17 · Rating 3 out of 5]

odd but somewhat relatable

[Shelby · Rating 4 out of 5]

I genuinely had the absolute most fun time reading this play - I can’t imagine how amazing it is to watch

[Walker DeBord · Rating 5 out of 5]

It may just be my messed up humor, but this is one of the most funny and relatable texts I’ve ever read. Unhinged in the best way possible.

[Blythe · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastically absurd

[Reagan Kearney · Rating 5 out of 5]

gonna start counting plays because it’s the only way i’m meeting my goal but this was SO fucking funny!

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

I wouldn't want to direct it but I would love to see it. This feels so tragic set in such a ridiculous and cringey teen atmosphere.