Natural Shocks

by Lauren Gunderson

"Angela is trapped in her basement, waiting out an approaching tornado. Though a self-proclaimed unreliable narrator, she begins to reflect on a lifetime of trauma, illuminating the truth behind her endangerment. Based on Hamlet's famous 'To be or not tobe' soliloquy, NATURAL SHOCKS is a damning condemnation of violence, abuse, and firearms in America"--

Genres: Plays, Theatre, Drama, Fiction

Unknown Binding

Reviews

[Lu · Rating 5 out of 5]

What have I just read??!!!!

I feel like I MUST see this play now. This is an incredible piece about which you should know the less, the better. I have read it in one sitting kind of fearing what was coming, kind of wishing it wasn't.

[Maribel_G · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm shocked, I would love to see this play.

[Juliette II · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely incredible storytelling. I’m not often a fan of one-person shows but this show is perfectly written - infused with comedy, keeps the audience completely off-balance, guessing and riveted. An ideal way to approach difficult, imperative subjects.

“A comedy until it’s not” - this play expertly conveys how we can downplay disaster until it’s “100% happening to us.”

1w
Single set, can be minimalist
Perfect for blackbox
Sound effects recommended
Short (easily <1 hr)

[MB Shakespeare · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you are a lover of metaphor and surprise endings, this is the play for you. This is a one-woman show, where the protagonist, Angela, is hiding in her basement somewhere in middle America waiting for the tornado just outside her door. Or is she? Funny, engaging, and painfully shocking and true, this play sneaks up and grabs you when you least expect it. Once again, the fertile and amazing mind of Lauren Gunderson does not disappoint.

[Gretta · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow!! I have never wanted a part so so so badly. This play is funny and shocking (I never for one second anticipated where it was going). Just like the tornado that our main character is waiting for this play moves fast. It drives forward with force. I have not loved a play this much in ages. I want everyone to produce this show, so that I can watch it, and be in it, and watch it again.

[Tilly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Had a hard time getting into the beginning, but it really picked up a quarter of the way through. Reading a one woman show is harder for me to picture. Also don’t recommend reading right before bed, scary

[ana v alvarez · Rating 4 out of 5]

pos chulo me gustó sorpresivo triste tal!

[Sophie Pitsch · Rating 4 out of 5]

seeing this play live would probably destroy me. i love the unreliable narration, and the end had me in pieces as i realized i was reading my favorite kind of story: the story where you realize in one sentence that everything you’ve read so far is a lie; the kind of story that has you questioning everything and shocked to your core. owie owie owwwwie!! this has some of the best one liners i have read, and definitely some monologues i will be using as well. at the end of the day, as our narrator would say, women deserve better odds.

[Allison · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’m never a big fan of one-person shows but this…. oh this was good. what a sad and grim and provocative twist

[ScottRichard Klein · Rating 4 out of 5]

The story leaves you with questions.

[Amandanoel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Powerful one woman show I’d love to do or direct. Saw it several years ago and it has never left me. Somehow hits just as hard even just reading it

[Samara · Rating 4 out of 5]

beautiful written play and the “shock” at the end is amazing everyone should read