Seaside Tragedies by Scott Sickles

[FULL-LENGTH QUEER ASIAN NEURODIVERGENT EXPERIMENTAL BREAKUP DRAMA]

Tishk, an Indian/Pakistani American, is figuring out his life after long Covid cranked his ADHD ending his journalism career, so he and his husband Brady, a Korean American photographer, have rented a cottage by the shore. Tishk spends his afternoons at the local diner, where he's befriended by a Filipina American waitress....
[FULL-LENGTH QUEER ASIAN NEURODIVERGENT EXPERIMENTAL BREAKUP DRAMA]

Tishk, an Indian/Pakistani American, is figuring out his life after long Covid cranked his ADHD ending his journalism career, so he and his husband Brady, a Korean American photographer, have rented a cottage by the shore. Tishk spends his afternoons at the local diner, where he's befriended by a Filipina American waitress. Meanwhile, Brady appears to be living a double life, a strange man shows up everywhere either of them go, and Tishk’s reality and perceptions separate and blur.

Seaside Tragedies examines multicultural marriage, intimacy, identity, prejudice, and intersectionality through a subjective neurodivergent lens in the lingering aftermath of the pandemic.

CW: Implied sexual content; homophobia; one fully-clothed sexual assault
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Seaside Tragedies

Recommended by

  • Paul Donnelly:
    22 Jul. 2023
    “ Riveting and incantory, this play takes us deep into one man's experience living with ADHD, long Covid, and bigotry. His experience is vividly depicted, as are the characters who surround him in both his real and hallucinatory worlds. So much of this play left me breathless and in awe of its bracing theatricality. ”
  • Rebecca Kane:
    25 Jun. 2023
    “ I want to live a lifetime in the world of Tishk and Brady, even though Scott Sickles successfully pulled off the realism of this kind of romance, meaning often devastating and terrifying -- it would be worth it if it means I get to see every inch of their layered life together. The violence is gripping but the love is so, so real. I can't wait to see more of this play as well as other full-length works by Scott. Seaside Tragedies made a follower out of me! ”
  • Christine Foster:
    3 Apr. 2022
    “ Both raw and literate, this devastating piece offers searing, personal insight into neurodivergent thinking (when the brain flat out works against the person trying to use it) piled on top of systemic prejudice, trauma, complications of Covid, loss and longing. The anticipated staging is ambitious, imaginative and gripping. Note: this play has graphic (though integral) realistic intimacy that may not be everyone, but then again maybe it should be, because it is, above all, triumphantly, honest. And "I won't survive you twice" is a line I'll never forget. ”
View all 6 recommendations

TISHK - 42; South Asian/Indian-Pakistani American
BRADY - 59; East Asian/Korean American; preferably bearish
SUSAN - late 30s/early 40s; Filipino American
MAN - 60s+; rugged with a strong laborer's build

Development History

  • Reading
    ,
    Scawwy Howwow Theatre
    ,
    2022

Awards

Finalist
,
Seven Devils Playwrights Conference
,
2023
Semi-Finalist
,
Garry Marshall Theatre New Works Festival
,
Garry Marshall Theatre
,
2022