"The Squirrels"; world premiere of a new play

Posted by Fred Patten on Thu 16 Nov 2017 - 20:55 — Edited by Sonious, GreenReaper as of Sat 18 Nov 2017 - 16:51

The La Jolla Playhouse, in La Jolla, California, a suburb of San Diego, will present the world premiere of a new play, “The Squirrels”, during its 2018-2019 season. The dates and casting have not been set yet.

“The Squirrels” by Robert Askins, directed by Christopher Ashley.

Winter is on its way, and the squirrels are restless. Mistrust is growing between the Grey Squirrels, who enjoy a rich cache of nuts, and the outcast, hungry Fox Squirrels. When a wily outsider ignites a savage war, the consequences are catastrophic. This epic play reveals the animal instincts driving us all.

The choice of species is fitting for the local given the squirrels in Southern California are primarily fox squirrels and gray squirrels.

An article on November 8 in the San Diego Union-Tribune says that Director Ashely calls the new work "playful and super-funny and unexpected in every possible way," and says that as with good sci-fi, the fantastical setup allows the piece "to explore our society with just enough remove that you can make bold, interesting statements. It’s squirrels in a tree, but you would recognize lots of things in this cultural moment."

Ashley noted that the costumes were not going to look like 'Disneyland', but they will convey an essential ‘squirrel-ness,’ to coin a term.

Tickets to the Playhouse’s 2018-2019 season are available only via subscription at the moment: (858) 550-1010 or lajollaplayhouse.org.

Keep tuned in as more news will be added here when it is available. It will be interesting to see how much the play’s costuming looks like fursuits.

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Comments

Sonious — Thu 16 Nov 2017 - 20:51

The description gave me an uncanny feeling that I've read this somewhere before...

Oh yeah, so Fred, remember that marginal war story that didn't make the cut of the Dogs of War anthology that I had sent you? You know... the ones with the red and grey squirrels fighting over nuts?

Small world!

2cross2affliction — Thu 16 Nov 2017 - 21:32

Okay, Gary Goldman.

Fred — Thu 16 Nov 2017 - 22:13

There is also The Woodstock Saga trilogy (The Silver Tide, The Second Wave, and The Golden Flight) by Michael Tod, about warfare between the native red squirrels of England and the invading grey squirrels from America. All three are in a single volume, The Dorset Squirrels (Cadno Books, December 1999).

http://anthrozine.com/site/lbry/yarf.reviews.d.html

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Dorset-Squirrels-Silver-Second-Golden/dp/1898225036/ref...

Fred Patten

Sonious — Thu 16 Nov 2017 - 22:44

What a squirrely trope it appears we got.

Vince (visitor) — Fri 17 Nov 2017 - 20:38

Rather doubt that the costuming will look fursuit-ish; it'll more likely be something with just ears, tails, and maybe a wig/face-paint. Not only would a full-headed costume be difficult to speak lines in properly, but it would also interfere with the facial expressions of the actors.

Sonious — Fri 17 Nov 2017 - 23:00

So kind of Cats style?

Jaffa — Sat 18 Nov 2017 - 14:28

I feel like a road trip to San Diego may be in my future.

Mister Twister — Sun 26 Nov 2017 - 09:56

Fox squirrels........ Is Nausicaä RL canon now??

Well, I'll be...

Fred — Sun 26 Nov 2017 - 11:49

No, but almost all of us “Nausicäa” fans wish that it was.

In real life, southwestern fox squirrels and eastern gray squirrels look enough alike that a lot of people in Los Angeles think that the local squirrels are gray squirrels. My sister Sherry feeds the squirrels that come over her backyard wall into her garden (also the raccoons that come at night), and they are superficially gray, but with a lot of orange and light brown mixed into their fur that true gray squirrels don’t have.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fox_squirrel

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mZ1AoXkKXNc

Fred Patten

Fred — Sun 17 Dec 2017 - 07:47

#10