Everybody

by Branden Jacobs-Jenkins

"This modern riff on the fifteenth-century morality play Everyman follows Everybody (chosen from amongst the cast by lottery at each performance) as they journey through life's greatest mystery--the meaning of living"--Page [4] of cover.

Genres: Plays, Theatre, School, Drama, Fiction, College

57 pages, Paperback

Published January 1, 2000

Reviews

[river · Rating 4 out of 5]

morality play slay! very interesting and I feel like it would make a lot more sense in performance but also idk bc we don’t really fear god and death in the same way?

[Araiya C · Rating 4 out of 5]

a fun play!

[Anya Wolters · Rating 2 out of 5]

I mean, it wasn't bad! It didn't change my life in any way. Definitely seems like something I would have done in high school

[María Alvarez]

“as if life were really just some sort of…medium through which souls or spirits or whatever could communicate and touch and be with each other.”

[O.O.H. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyed this. BJJ is so smart and innovative. Felt and sounded very modern but we get sufficient (and compelling) justification of this choice.

As with all retellings, there’s this question of if the work stands on its own. I wonder if someone not familiar with the medieval play would enjoy it as much. Allegorical/ nonspecific characters are jarring! Even the usher/god’s background wouldn’t fully prepare someone for the oddness of the set-up.

Would love to see this performed!

[Bobby Sullivan · Rating 2 out of 5]

Disappointing. I understand that it's difficult to do a modern morality play, because we don't accept archetypical characters easily. Used to too much realism. But this just came off as silly to me, not deep. The end had the desired effect of being a bit scary, but in the final analysis, it seemed a bit pointless. Too bad, because I enjoyed GLORIA.

[Aaron Thomas · Rating 1 out of 5]

I don't get it. It's sooooooo talky, and yet after all of its peregrinations it doesn't get us anywhere other than where the old medieval Everyman got us. I guess the part where Everybody gets naked and runs around and, like, has a private therapy session is interesting. But it took a long time to get there. And most of it was really boring. Am I missing something?

[Luiza Parodia · Rating 5 out of 5]

I sure hope I would like it… I’m on my 30th read this year

[Javier Fernandez · Rating 2 out of 5]

The only things we can take with us when we die are the good and bad deeds we leave behind. Nothing else can come along for the ride, so it's best to do more good deeds than bad. That's the gist of Everybody's nice and simple morality lesson. Unfortunately, one has to learn this lesson in a way that's more like a boring lecture than entertainment. I found the play to be neither terribly compelling nor funny. It's hard to believe it was nominated for a Pulitzer.

[Camden Nauroth · Rating 4 out of 5]

This play is so random but it looks fun! Very college

[Will Schmitt · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love! Understanding! So funny and touching and comforting and unique!

[Lindsay · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely LOVED seeing this performed - such a thought-provoking and clever adaptation. I will never cease to be amazed by Branden Jacobs-Jenkins' talent as a playwright.

[Aileen · Rating 5 out of 5]

I LOVE THIS PLAY! It's hilarious. The vibe is very much Percy-Jackson-The-Good-Place-realness and my imagination was running wild with all of the different ways this could be performed and experienced. I also think this play is really cool in the way that the casting could be so inclusive and open-ended. I am... so excited by this play... I want to be in it and also direct it and also witness other performances of it.

[Bridget · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book didn't really do anything new with the topic. I got all the same information from the original text it's based on and yes it's updated a bit for modern audiences, but it still follows the same exact story. It could be cool to experience live, but I wasn't particularly wowed by what I read. I saw what it was trying to do, but it all seemed very basic.

[Rachel A · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such an interesting play! I can't wait to start working on it!

[Emma Hailey · Rating 4 out of 5]

my brain doth hurt

[maddie · Rating 4 out of 5]

fine. silly.

[jamiereads92 · Rating 4 out of 5]

depressing!!!!!!! love is the only thing we take after we die?? like that’s beautiful and this piece is so creative and genius but sad

[ashley · Rating 3 out of 5]

i read this for my theatre class and although it wasn’t the most revolutionary thing i’ve ever read, it was enjoyable. it was silly, short, and nice.

[Jessica López-Barkl · Rating 4 out of 5]

Synopsis from the back of the script: This modern riff on the fifteenth-century morality play Everyman follows Everybody (chosen from amongst the cast by lottery at each performance) as they journey through life’s greatest mystery—the meaning of living.

I finally read the script of this play yesterday. I have seen the play performed a couple of times, most notably during the pandemic, with an amazing virtual version that had a lovely interpretation of the play during the time we found ourselves in...

On paper, it is also entertaining, and you pick up more of the themes. While you're watching it, you miss some of them because you might be paying attention to the construct of the lottery process of the casting night to night.

I especially love the satiric aspect of morality in the play and the heavy realization that we often die with just our love and our regrets of our actions from the past. It is what it is...

Lastly, I adore that there is a modern play out there that can help me persuade Theater History students that the Middle Ages is worthwhile in their studies...

[Lumine · Rating 3 out of 5]

While there were parts of this play that felt confusing, especially as someone who is reading the script instead of watching it played out, there were numerous parts that stuck out to me. I believe my favorite scene has to be the scene between Everybody and Love, and Everybody doing whatever Love asks of them so that Love will go with them to the grave.

I also found the part of the five senses leaving Everybody in order to quite profound. I also enjoyed the character of the little girl who also plays the role of time, because her character seemed to have such a profound innocence compared to the character of Death. I also really loved in the final scene where Understanding is watching Everybody for as long as they can, but cannot continue with them into the afterlife. Which mirrors the understanding that your relatives have for you will fade as they die, but the love they have given you will continue with you forever.

[Jack Reynolds · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was fortunately able to obtain the initial printing of Everybody through ILL once I realized I wasn't going to be able to see a local production of it. I'm happy I put that request through, too. Jacob-Jenkins makes the original play accessible to his audience while also giving it a nice modern spin. The set-up works from a theatrical standpoint, but the plot was also pretty engaging. Ultimately, Everybody has to find pride and self-compassion in themself above relying on others or material goods in order to obtain the journey's "purpose." Jacobs-Jenkins also engages with his text by writing the characters to be portrayed by a mix of actors. Thus, the beats on race, alleged code-switching, gender, and self-love shine through more. Some of the dialogue did feel long-winded, but the quick action and social commentary made up for it.

[Jillian Shaw · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read the script and am intrigued to see BJJ's words performed on the stage. It's not easy to confront an audience with 90 minutes focused on their own demise, especially one where EVERYBODY is abandoned in the end by Kinship, Friendship, Beauty, Senses, et al. I thought the character assignment by lottery was a great device, even if you are hit over the head with the idea that death is random and inevitable. I wish there had been more of the moments that placed the action in contemporary context (racism, social media, climate change) as those moments in the play were powerful. Creative playwright; familiar tropes, but no easy task to reimagine a fifteenth century morality play... EVERYBODY is going to have to explain the "we are all meat" nudity scene to me.

[anya · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've seen two productions of this show before reading the script, which is better watched. The show is smart witty and silly and makes for a very enjoyable watching experience. I think if you're looking for something new to be said about death and life or whatever, you're not gonna find it in this show. This show is an old-time morality play adapted for modern audiences, and it presents itself as such in the beginning. I think leaning into the comedy of it is really what makes this play so enjoyable, and also the personifications of abstract concepts such as Love, Friendship, and Stuff, are really the highlight of this piece.

[needy lesnicki · Rating 2 out of 5]

Dead Dove Do Not Eat… i don’t know what i expected. i read Everyman in college. I respect that this is trying to be a modern morality play and that’s really, really hard; I also respect the lottery aspect and its thematic intent; but overall this fell so unbelievably flat for me. It says so much yet feels like it has nothing to say and in the end I was just so annoyed. It’s like a bad modern Shakespeare adaptation where all the characters say shit like “Yo yo yo, what’s up, my homies?” because it’s “modern” and then reach for “My name is Mac, short for Macbeth.”

[MH · Rating 3 out of 5]

A modernized version of the medieval morality play where Everyman tries to find help for his upcoming appointment with Death, with the gimmick that the title role is randomly chosen each night (so with a diverse ensemble, Everyman - Everybody - can really represent everybody). The show is mostly a beat-for-beat adaptation with the inclusion of some modern references and the characters calling each other 'cuz' and 'homie' (something that gets comically lampshaded as possibly racist later in the play), and the main-character-through-lottery device seems more interesting theoretically than theatrically (and I'd imagine the game is often rigged, especially in university performances - Everybody has an awful lot of lengthy monologues and some pre-recorded voiceovers). I don't know how well the show would work on stage, but on the page it left me pretty cold.

[Marieke · Rating 4 out of 5]

So I played “everybody” in this play, so I have a love-hate relationship with this show. There are parts that are really good, both philosophical and hilarious, but there are other parts where I’m like “ugh why did this need to be written.” I would rather read the 14th century version of this play, tbh, but that’s because I’m and elitist or whatever. Sorry.

[Nate Hermen · Rating 2 out of 5]

A modernized morality play from the middle ages. It has a nice message about acceptance and understanding of others but it felt a little too much like something you would see in a middle school gym to teach you about bullying, Props to the lottery system written into the script where the actors play different characters every performance.

[Logan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Finally went through the script, halfway through our performances.
I’ve seen this show 10+ times now, and it won’t ever get old. Sure some bits drag on sometimes, but especially the last half hour (from Love’s entrance to the end) engages me every time.

“Goodbye, Everything.”

[Maddie Hiatt · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think the doability and affect of this play really depends on the director’s choices and lens. It could be a piece of metatheatre that is cringey and performative, but it could also be something really unique and deep. It just depends.