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A SAMUEL FRENCH, INC. TITLE
Full-Length Play, Dark Comedy / 2w, 3m
John J. Caswell, Jr.
Deep in the suburbs of Arizona, three train-wreck siblings are charged with the care of their train-wreck father, who may or may not live a secret alien life. John J. Caswell, Jr.’s brutally funny new play pierces one family’s emotional void as they search the cosmos to find a common language.
Image: 2023 Playwrights Horizons and MCC Theater Co-Production (Joan Marcus)
Inspired by true events and hopeless imaginings, Wet Brain is a play about three distant siblings and their father’s possible repeat abductions by extraterrestrials during the height of his end-stage alcoholism. With recovery unlikely, organs failing, and Dad's death all but imminent, Ricky, Roon and Angelina look for a final closure many, many light years away.
JOE – Dad. Age 59. RICKY – Joe’s son. Age 33. RON – Joe’s son. Age 37. ANGELINA – Joe’s daughter. Age 27. MONA – Mother of Rick, Ron, Angelina. CRYSTAL* – Home health aide. VARIOUS RECORDED VOICES
*Played by actor portraing MONA
Scottsdale, AZ, summer, present. And outer space.
“A very funny, pitch-black comedy about addiction and obligation, love and abandonment.” – The New York Times
★★★★ Critics’ Pick! “A very funny, pitch-black comedy about addiction and obligation, love and abandonment, and patterns of poisonous behavior lodged so deep they seem encoded. ... John J. Caswell, Jr.’s writing is an act of resistance to the constraints of theatrical convention.” – The New York Times
★★★★ “An otherworldly look at generational trauma... offers a gripping, grating look at alcoholism and its effects on loved ones... genre-bending... it moves between comedy, tragedy and horror.” – New York Theatre Guide
“Equal parts heart-stopping and heart-wrenching.” – Vogue
“A compelling portrait of family dysfunction... This play will take you to unexpected places.” – Theatermania
“This is a play that’s comfortable leaving a lot of gaping wounds bleeding while still being quite funny... it all provides a way for the play to reach out beyond the patterns these characters are trapped in, and see something hopeful out there in the stars.” – Vulture
“A wild ride... completely off the rails in a very good way... Spoiler alert: Wet Brain may contain the funniest line uttered in any new play this year or last.” – The Wrap
ON BREAKING CHARACTER
Spectacle and Hyper-Theatricality: A Conversation with John J. Caswell, Jr. April 19, 2024
Wet Brain – Playwrights Horizons Trailer
Wet Brain Talks – The Siblings
Wet Brain Talks – The Parents
John J. Caswell, Jr. is a writer originally from Arizona, a recent fellow at Juilliard’s Lila Acheson Wallace American Playwrights Program, the recipient of the Paula Vogel Playwriting Award at Vineyard Theatre, and the winner of the L. Arnold Weissberger New Play Award for W ...
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