The Squirrels

by Robert Askins

Sciurus, Patriarch of the family of grey squirrels, has collected enough nuts to last ten winters. When a group of starving fox squirrels begs him to share his hoard of food, animosity irrupt into a ferocious war. THE SQUIRRELS is a boundary pushing, darkly satirical look at wealth inequality in which no creature comes out unscathed.

Genres: Plays, Drama, Theatre

90 pages, Unknown Binding

Published January 1, 2021

Reviews

[Addy Canzano · Rating 2 out of 5]

now I can say that I’ve read about squirrel sex and cannibalism.

[Zachary Scott · Rating 1 out of 5]

"The Grey squirrels survives because it will eat things that no other squirrel will eat. Sometimes living is about consuming the disgusting. You may not want to eat the filth, but if you don't swallow it someone else will. It doesn't matter if the other side is smarter or more sophisicated if they're starving. Get there first. Eat it all. Bite harder and get what you want"

I'm getting to the end of the play and I start thinking "hmmm the website said that there would be an intermission, but it's been two hours so maybe they skipped that? I think I remember the original production of this being one act." Something dramatic happens on stage, the house lights come up, and then I realize with horror that it's only been one act.

For a play about squirrels at war and cannibalism, I found this to be mind numbing and boring. analyzing inequality via squirrels I think can be an interesting (the have and the have-nuts), but this script needs like 3 rewrites lol. Anyways everyone says Hand to God is Robert Askins magnum opus so maybe that's a better play??

[Evan · Rating 4 out of 5]

What can I say… it’s a play about squirrels. Askins play is a fable about our modern squirrorld, told through engaging characters (all squirrels), shocking violence, unique squirrel vernacular, and no shortage of squirrel puns. Themes of race and fascism heighten this piece, and, despite the seemingly silly premise, the tragic ending remains poignant and important. Smart and heartfelt, The Squirrels is a strange yet underrated work.

[Christy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Brave new squirreld.

[James Brautigam · Rating 4 out of 5]

Man, what a firecracker of a play.

[Steve · Rating 4 out of 5]

Of the many plays I've read recently, this one has left me the most unsure of my opinion. I appreciate that it is really different - truly something I haven't seen much of before. But does that make it great, or just interesting? And does it matter? My concern from a production standpoint would be that all the design elements would have to be really unified and strong to avoid this looking like really bad and campy community theater with people running around imitating squirrels. But if the production could really bring the fantasy to life, it is a fascinating parable about wealth inequality and the fall of society because of it.

[Jake Kmiech · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's a mad Squirreld out there