The Motherfucker with the Hat

by Stephen Adly Guirgis

"By far the most accomplished and affecting work from the gifted Mr. Guirgis, a prolific and erratic chronicler of marginal lives."—The New York Times

"The lifeblood of Guirgis's dialogue is the most expressive cursing since Shakespeare."—The Guardian

As an expert in the art of blurring lines, Stephen Adly Guirgis is known for projects that are at once comically poignant and dramatically raucous. Following the recently rehabilitated drug dealer Jackie, trying to improve his life after being paroled, The Motherfucker with the Hat (Guirgis's first on Broadway) examines the fragile line between ignited passions and the struggle to remain clean in the underbelly of New York City. With expressive dialogue and a captivating story, Guirgis's widely-acclaimed play delves into the challenges of pride, self-transformation, and the intricacies of love in a lower-class world. This volume also includes the acclaimed one-act play Dominica: The Fat Ugly Ho.

Stephen Adly Guirgis's other plays include Jesus Hopped the 'A' Train, Our Lady of 121st Street, In Arabia We'd All Be Kings, The Last Days of Judas Iscariot, The Little Flower of East Orange, Den of Thieves, and Race Religion Politics. His play Between Riverside and Crazy won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 2015. He is a former co-artistic director of LABryinth Theater Company. He received the Yale Wyndham-Campbell Prize, a PEN/Laura Pels Award, a Whiting Award and a fellowship from TCG in 2004.

Genres: Plays, Drama, Theatre, Fiction, Humor, Audiobook, School

112 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2011

About the author

Stephen Adly Guirgis is an American playwright, screenwriter, director, and actor. He is a member and a former co-artistic director of New York City's LAByrinth Theater Company. His plays have been produced both Off-Broadway and on Broadway, as well as in the UK. His play Between Riverside and Crazy won the 2015 Pulitzer Prize for Drama.

Reviews

[Kenny · Rating 4 out of 5]

“The play that dare not speak its name turns out to have a lot to say.”
The New York Times


Jackie, out on parole and newly sober, is determined to start anew with his childhood sweetheart Veronica, but her unrelenting coke addiction, his slick-talking AA sponsor, and the discovery of another man’s hat in his living room all threaten to derail Jackie’s tenuous progress. With passion, profanity, and genuine vulnerability, Jackie and Veronica untangle their decades of codependence as they wrestle with the painful limitations of trust, desire, and rehabilitation.



Stephen Adly Guirgis really hits his stride in scene 2 of Act I. Guirgis has an amazing way with language, capturing street talk with a rawness and immediacy that turn it into rough poetry, hysterically funny one minute and soul-scorching the next. Addiction, pain, and explosive tempers are not exactly what you’d call the ingredients for a side-splitting comedy, but Guirgis makes it all work.



One revelation follows another, secrets are confessed, new alliances are forged and old ones are shot to hell before Jackie’s crazy quest for revenge plays itself out. Rising from the barrage of violent and often wickedly precise profanity. If you are able to get a chance to see Guirgis' The Motherfucker with the Hat live, by all means do so.

[Chris · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 rounded up

This is a play that I listened to on Scribd. It's about love, friendship, loyalty, and addiction. The play was well acted, but I think a little was lost from not being able to see or know what movements/actions the actors were making. It has moments of humor and heartache. Each character is flawed in some way, and they aren't especially likable, which is the point.

It features Jackie, who just got out of prison, Ralph, his AA sponsor, and Jackie's girlfriend Veronica. One day Jackie comes home and finds another man's hat in the apartment. Veronica tells him it's no big deal, but he wants to know the identity of the motherf*cker in the hat. That scene sets into motion the unraveling of the different relationships between the characters. My suggestion would be to see it versus listening to the audio version, unless you can get your hands on a script.

[Theo Logos · Rating 4 out of 5]

Damn! Stephen Adly Guirgis turns it up to 11! This comedic tragedy comes at you fast, hard and loud. He dissects love and friendship, passion, infidelity, betrayal, and addiction with rapid-fire wit, profane and hilarious. He rips open chests leaving heart’s blood on the floor while cracking you up. All of his characters are hopelessly flawed, yet seductively sympathetic within the tragic mess they’ve made of their lives and relationships. This play rides you hard and puts you up wet, whipping you through an emotional roller coaster that will leave you wanting more of Guirgis’s brilliance.

Highly recommend listening to the outstanding LA Theater Works production with Chris Rock and Bobby Cannavale.

[Faith · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a play about complicated relationships, addiction, friendship, love and loyalty. "Funny how people can be more than one thing." I thought it was brilliant, funny, touching and wonderfully acted. I'd love to see it performed, but this audio of the Broadway cast was the next best thing. If the title puts you off, then almost every line in the play will offend you. I loved every minute of it.

[Richard Kramer · Rating 5 out of 5]

He writes about people I don't know, about a world I've never lived in. And yet when I finished this (I unfortunately didn't get to see what was apparently a wonderful NY production) I wanted to be the writer and all the characters in the play. I felt as I was reading this big fat gust of life blowing me around the room, and sat down to see could I write like that, could I do it without thinking, in emulation, honoring this voice and
hoping to hear an aspect of my own that I haven't located before but suspect is in there. Bliss for me would be to spend weeks playing with this, shocking myself, making myself laugh, seeing more of who I am. That's what great writing does t me, and this is great writing. I have his other plays on my IPad as of yesterday. This is a sea change. Instead of going to get the BOOK, I've gotten its avatar. Good thing?

[Neil · Rating 4 out of 5]

This play jumps right into the conflict with suspected adultery, across several vignettes between two complete fuckups in AA (one sponsoring the other), their similar girlfriends, and Cousin Julio, who steals the show with straight delivery of the funniest and most sentimental lines. Although all the humor leaves with him, and it's just depressing from there on out.

One complaint: the female characters are Veronica and Victoria, which is a no-no. Different first letters is best, but definitely not also similar length and phonetic suffix.

[Mahtab Safdari · Rating 4 out of 5]

"The Motherf**ker with the Hat" tells the naked truth, in a witty, rather exaggerated and absolutely cruel way. That's usually how the reality hits us, in a brutal way, in an unexpected moment. Then we just stand still there, look around in perplexity and we cannot believe it's really happened to us. Everyone makes mistakes. Big ones. Huge ones. But more often than not the consequence is more painful than what one can take it. we hurt others, and we hurt our most beloved ones far more than other ones. we sometimes treat them brutally even if we deny it. we don't appreciate them and we're not grateful for all they've done for us... and we don't understand it... until it's too late. Is it really in the humans' nature that they can't value the most precious people/things in their lives until they've lost them?
"Funny how people can be more than one thing."That's true. sometimes we awaken the monster inside an innocent person by ignoring them, ignoring their wants and needs, by our unfair, inconsiderate and cruel attitude towards them. Will we have another chance when we've finally seen the result of our own deed? Or will we even deserve "another" chance?


"if you got one friend when you die, then you got something most people never have."
" sometimes the truth is ugly, but what the f**k can we do? We gotta face it, deal with it, so we can turn the page. Shit happens, right?"
"Funny how people can be more than one thing."

[Kat · Rating 2 out of 5]

I can understand and appreciate why this play generated the buzz and received the accolades that it did. However, it is not my cup of tea. I've never been a fan of stories where the whole point is that the characters behave badly and treat those around them like crap. Cousin Julio was the only character that I liked, and he wasn't in it enough to redeem the story for me.

[K2 · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a Goodlisten.....the theme and dialogue was cool, but the performances were phenomenal

[Kerissa · Rating 2 out of 5]

cousin julio was the only character i did not hate

[belle · Rating 3 out of 5]

my professor was in a production of this as ralph. it was iconic.

[Izzy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think I liked this play? I mean it was well written, well structured, humorous with good character twists but I can’t decide if I liked it. I would’ve loved to see it staged. You can tell the play has a lot of life in it.

[Ashley · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a very interesting audiobook. I liked the story.

[Jonathan Maas · Rating 5 out of 5]

Listened to this on audio - the way to do it. Really a play that can be listened to - incredible.

[Sarah · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was interested in this play because it was garnering a lot of buzz, I think mainly because Chris Rock was starring in it. This might have clouded my feelings going into the play - I thought it was a comedy, or would have been funny. It's not. It's intense. It has drug users, philanderers, and parolees. These characters are different, but they are not really likable either. Some have some good qualities, but they are not redeemable, or nice.

[Cristina · Rating 5 out of 5]

Performance done in Oklahoma City (of all places) to several sold out houses. An amazingly raw, fierce script with complex and interesting characters.

[Chuck O'Connor · Rating 5 out of 5]

The real life horror show that comes with addiction and codependency but one that has real moments of humor, love and compassion.

[Brian McCann · Rating 4 out of 5]

Powerful dialogue. Raw. Real. Playwright has distinctive ear for a specific American voice.

The title is exploitive. It’s really about recovery rather than the F word.

[Vladimiro Sousa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sharp and witty, and the dialogue crackles with energy and humor. The characters are all flawed and complex, and Guirgis' treatment of them is both raw and compassionate. The play explores themes such as addiction, betrayal, and the struggle for personal growth and redemption.

At the heart of the play is Jackie's journey, and actor Bobby Cannavale's portrayal of him is nothing short of brilliant. He manages to capture Jackie's vulnerability, humor, and inner turmoil in a way that is both captivating and heartbreaking. His chemistry with Elizabeth Rodriguez, who plays Veronica, is also fantastic, and the two actors bring a raw intensity to their scenes together.

The play also features standout performances from Chris Rock, who plays Jackie's sponsor Ralph, and Annabella Sciorra, who plays Ralph's wife Victoria. Both actors bring a depth and complexity to their characters, and their scenes together are some of the play's most powerful.

A raw, funny, and deeply human play.

[Steven Owad · Rating 5 out of 5]

Owad’s Micro-Review #101

This play about addiction, friendship and love is a hard-edged hoot and an affecting character study. Jackie is a recovering addict who’s going straight after his latest prison stretch. Ralph D. is his sponsor, a sage of Big Book wisdoms who can maybe help keep Jackie sober. But that’s no easy task given that Veronica, the love of Jackie’s life, is maybe sleeping with some guy who left his motherf**king hat in Jackie’s apartment. Against all better judgment, Jackie sets out to kill the guy.

Sensitive souls be warned: this play has more lowbrow maledictions than you’ll hear at a Donald Trump rally. But the language has a kind of street beauty, a lyrical flow. It might not sound sophisticated, but there’s depth and humanity here. The themes are universal, and the characters are easy to get behind.

[Jake Kilroy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This took a moment for me to hold and examine, wondering who I was rooting for and why, but I came to really appreciate the message that you could choose what to treasure and be mad about. There's a lot of seemingly black-and-white issues in the world—cheating is bad and such—but there's often a softening of the reasoning to make it a gray area (e.g. we were drifting apart, etc). So this take struck me as rather interesting, that you could be wholly right to be mad but it's up to you whether that anger stays or disappears. This is something many people have to deal with—and have, let's say, in therapy—but it felt unique here because that the revelation comes from the perpetrator as a kind of philosophy rather than a defense, after we spend an hour and a half witnessing the hulking runaway train of another man's unrelenting, almost self-poisoning fury.

[Himali Kothari · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read this play in an online read aloud session.where I read the part of Veronica, the most foul-mouthed character. Two lines onto it and I had to shut the room door to preserve the sanctity of the PG 13 ears in the house. Having said that, the f#&@ing language sets the tone of the characters.

The story is about insecurities leading to infidelity leading to the breaking down of relationships with addiction as the backdrop. Flawed characters complicate the situation and that is what is relatable about the plot, because be it substances or something else, being dependent is a core human quality.

[Petros · Rating 5 out of 5]

1. This writing; the dialogue is so fun.
2. The dynamic is so authentic.
3. Rage and attempting to control rage.
4. Powerful ending. Frustrating experience. It's always interesting when a play/writing converts your own energy. When it révéals in you your own insanities.

(Spoiler) Do you agree with Ralph or did you wish Jackie killed Ralph?

^that question says a lot about the power of the writing.

5. It positions the audience in the oldest conundrum (ever?) - what to do with treachery?

[Tom Walsh · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great performance.

Gritty play about addiction and the people whose lives and relationships are ripped open by its tentacles. Rough street language totally appropriate for its subject matter was realistically performed by the actors but rough nonetheless.

Reading other reviews, I was hard put to see the humor some listeners heard but there are always some folks who giggle at cuss words I guess. Four Stars. ****

[Rose · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved reading this play to myself aloud. The way the words moved around in my mouth, my tongue enunciating the authentic vowels and consonants I'm so used to producing in my everyday life. Stephen has the gift of language. In reading this story about these folks who just can't quite get it together, it's an inspiration to one day have my words performed on stage.

[Rhiannon · Rating 2 out of 5]

There were some decent moments in this, and the performances were great. The issue I have with this is mostly the fact that by not being able to see this, you lose part of the story, but that's what you get when it's an audio recording of an actual performance. I think I might like it more once I actually get a copy of the script and can sit and read it, so I know what's going on more.

[Jordan Muschler · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not my favorite Guirgis play, but still has everything that makes his work great - snappy dialogue, varied characters, and a great sense of humor. However, this plot does end up feeling contrived sometimes, in the way everything connects with each other / is given such a clear explanation. I wish there was a little more ambiguity here overall.

[rea · Rating 4 out of 5]

idk why i’ve never uncovered the world of plays but i really have been missing out on this literary format. reading this felt like watching a live show. i really enjoyed the wit and relatability of the characters and cousin julio has my heart. read it in nearly one sitting so that says it all in terms of entertainment value

[Teresa · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is truly a performance, so you MUST listen to it. Who doesn't love Chris Rock and Bobby Cannavale. this is a classic funny performance that I defintely want to listen to again... and again (especially if I'm having a downer of a day. Just do it - I promise if you like somewhat raunchy humor you will be thoroughly satisfied.

[Jocelyn Lugo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dude... Funny as hell and honestly thought provoking. A story about fidelity and love. Addiction of course. Bobby C. was fantastic! He was dynamic and emotional. Chris Rock? *Chef kiss* Really cool story.