Our Dear Dead Drug Lord

by Alexis Scheer

A gang of teenage girls gathers in an abandoned treehouse to summon the ghost of Pablo Escobar. Are they messing with the actual spirit of the infamous cartel kingpin? Or are they really just messing with each other? A roller coaster ride through the danger and damage of girlhood - the teenage wasteland - has never been so much twisted fun.




Critic's Pick! "Highly entertaining - equally funny and scary." - The New York TimesFour Stars! "Just when you think you know where the play is heading, there's a disorienting coup de th��tre that leaves you shaken. Our Dear Dead Drug Lord isn't for the faint of heart, but neither is coming of age." - Raven Snook, Time Out

Critic's Pick! "Highly entertaining - equally funny and scary - the play starts off as a hoot and winds up a primal scream. They're throwing quite a seance at the McGinn/Cazale Theater." - Ben Brantley, The New York Times

"As funny as it is violent and dark... Our Dear Dead Drug Lord is not quiet, small, or apologetic. It is loud and messy and truthful. It is incredibly complicated and a thing of extreme beauty. It is everything in women that society tells them they need to repress, and in this I found it incredibly enjoyable and inspiring." - Brittany Crowell, New York Theatre Guide

"The challenges of female adolescence... explored with a remarkably fresh, honest and sometimes hilarious perspective." - Brian Scott Lipton, Theater Pizzazz

"Unsettling... Scheer's characters are brilliantly drawn... the work of a born playwright and a unique new voice... As a story of female empowerment, it is both scary and revealing." - Victor Gluck, Theater Scene

"An imaginative and ultimately savage new play... An offbeat Mean Girls sort of dramedy that unexpectedly concludes in a violent burst of magical realism." - Michael Sommers, New York Stage Review

Genres: Plays, Drama, Theatre

Unknown Binding

Reviews

[emilia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dance Nation on crack cocaine

[river · Rating 4 out of 5]

you know…. who doesn’t get with the girlies to summon the spirit of pablo escobar in a slightly sexual way!

[Michael Anderson · Rating 4 out of 5]

A wild ride with focus on politics, magic, and the trauma of life. 4 girls in a tree house with a club dedicated to dead leaders attempt to summon the ghost of Pablo Escobar. Sprinkled in the silliness of the girls club and the realistic dialogue, deep meaningful trauma can be found. Culminating in a very intense climax with an insane message about the differences of the sex’s and perception of magic. I could not imagine this play produced but would be excited to see it. Very good and leaves you questioning many things after its final page.

[gabby · Rating 5 out of 5]

just reread this and you know when something is so good it just gives you chills???? i love this play!!!!! i love teenage girls!!!! i will not be good i will be loud loud loud have things and not be had make the world in my image and take what’s mine!!!!!!!!!!

[Evan Stein · Rating 2 out of 5]

I hate this play because I loved it so much. For the first 90 or so pages, I loved it. The characters were rich and I could feel them through the page. The dialogue was funny and realistic and well written. The themes on sexuality and shame and womanhood burst through the page. Never has an ending ruined a book for me so hard. The last 10-15 pages are ridiculous. I get that that’s the point. I understand it is supposed to be random and crazy and unexpected but COME on. It’s just too much. The ending does bring up some cool and important themes in the mess that it is. it just feels wrong to throw those in there to be left without expansion (bc they’re only present for the last 10 pages of the play). I think both parts of this play (the first 90 and the last 10) are fine when separated but they are two different pieces entirely. To raise important commentary with no time to expanding on it while giving no resolve to the commentary and story and characters you’ve spent the whole play developing and learning to love felt like a slap in the face.

[Aaron · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hell yeah to this wild play about teenaged girls and their dark magic in a play that edges the borders of Artaud's theater of cruelty (but set in a tree house). I hope I can see a production some day.

[Em Stern · Rating 5 out of 5]

so fun! so deep. loved.
great scene comedic SQUEEZE +ZOOM pg 37-39
kit monologue 46
kit monologue 46-47 dramatic and comedic
zoom monologue (lines can be meshed into monologue) 55-56 comedic about her being pregnant and virgin

[colin :) · Rating 4 out of 5]

kind of just incredible. a snapshot of 2008 america.

i'm a huge fan of the way this play is formatted, it takes care of the "how fast should the pace?" issue, becasue the spaces between each character's dialogue puts it right in your lap!!! incredible

[Joshua Hill · Rating 5 out of 5]

A dark and wonderful play full of magic and desire.

[Sophia M · Rating 5 out of 5]

This play is everything, this is exactly the play I have been needing.

[Tati Arias · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a fantastic play would recommend

[Sean Kottke · Rating 4 out of 5]

One reader described it as “the exorcism of the patriarchy,” which is the perfect distillation of this rollercoaster of a show. Would love to see it live.

[Hailey kav · Rating 3 out of 5]

wtf did I just read. definitely entertaining and a wacky adventure but I think I liked the thanksgiving play more. I also think this would be funnier in play production form

[Skyler · Rating 3 out of 5]

Love the ending! 8/10.
___
2024 RATING SCALE:
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 9.25-10
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 8.25-9.25
⭐️⭐️⭐️6.25-8.25
⭐️⭐️4.25-6.25
⭐️ 0-4.25

*Overlap is to allow for subjective
differences in borderline ratings.

[Meaghan · Rating 4 out of 5]

A play about 4 girls dealing with their own trauma and insecurities find an escape in magic and the possibility of meeting Pablo Escobar. This play was a delightful read.

[Tilly · Rating 5 out of 5]

CRAZY PLAY

[Sydni Rivero · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of my favorite plays. Great mix of dark supernatural elements and strong female characters with lots of Latina representation!

[Emma Sperber · Rating 2 out of 5]

wtf

[mali · Rating 5 out of 5]

genuinely one of my favorite plays i’ve read on the teenage experience. it was crazy and a trip and life goes on after loss and sorrow.

[Kayden Merritt · Rating 3 out of 5]

Saw this years ago, would love to watch/read again

[Sophia Frances · Rating 4 out of 5]

oh the all-star production i would mount would be unstoppable

feb 2/3

[Madelein · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wowie! my JAW DROPPED at that one scene. you know the one. this play is "the wolves" for the weird violent evil girls

[Ghost Moran · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this play. Yellowjackets meets Derry Girls.

[Ainsley Powers · Rating 4 out of 5]

there IS something about teenage girls and Pablo Escobar that is the same

[Will Farris · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars