the quiet part

by Keegon Schuett

In a shipping warehouse, three coworkers grapple with daily inspirational quotes as the unforgiving holiday season looms. Breaking her vow of silence, Cate invites Newton and Kyle to her small, cold home for Thanksgiving dinner. After devouring comfort food and binge drinking, they cross professional boundaries to take inventory of their empty lives. Together they unpack uncomfortable existential questions and...

In a shipping warehouse, three coworkers grapple with daily inspirational quotes as the unforgiving holiday season looms. Breaking her vow of silence, Cate invites Newton and Kyle to her small, cold home for Thanksgiving dinner. After devouring comfort food and binge drinking, they cross professional boundaries to take inventory of their empty lives. Together they unpack uncomfortable existential questions and recognize the power it takes to say something really important.

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the quiet part

Recommended by

  • Gina Femia: the quiet part by Keegon Schuett
    “

    This play is pure genius. It broke my heart and made me feel alive. A play about all the things we can't say, and all the things we do. Highly recommend.

    This play is pure genius. It broke my heart and made me feel alive. A play about all the things we can't say, and all the things we do. Highly recommend.

    ”
  • Noah Tibbetts: the quiet part by Keegon Schuett
    “

    Such a well constructed three-person study into existing and more specifically, existing among/with others. Not a single idea or detail was forgotten or abandoned! I attended the 2025 reading at The Understudy and really enjoyed imagining the staging of this play, particularly with its settings in the warehouse and in Cate's ready-for-Thanksgiving house. It helps that Schuett provides such vivid and idiosyncratic stage directions. THE QUIET PART has a lot to say, and says it out loud!

    Such a well constructed three-person study into existing and more specifically, existing among/with others. Not a single idea or detail was forgotten or abandoned! I attended the 2025 reading at The Understudy and really enjoyed imagining the staging of this play, particularly with its settings in the warehouse and in Cate's ready-for-Thanksgiving house. It helps that Schuett provides such vivid and idiosyncratic stage directions. THE QUIET PART has a lot to say, and says it out loud!

    ”
newton (m) likes to hear what others say, but wants to sing his own words
kyle (nb) fears what other people think and is scared to speak truthfully
cate (f) doesn’t feel like her voice is important

Development History

  • Reading, The Understudy, 2025
  • Reading, Chicago Dramatists, 2024