spoons by Ben Firke

It’s the summer of 2016, and the gig economy has commodified everything in Brooklyn, including intimacy. Brad, a sportswriter struggling with social anxiety, retains the services of Molly, a professional cuddler with a wry bedside manner. As the two form a fragile bond over the course of their sessions, they begin to struggle with their self-imposed boundaries and their preconceived ideas about what a...
It’s the summer of 2016, and the gig economy has commodified everything in Brooklyn, including intimacy. Brad, a sportswriter struggling with social anxiety, retains the services of Molly, a professional cuddler with a wry bedside manner. As the two form a fragile bond over the course of their sessions, they begin to struggle with their self-imposed boundaries and their preconceived ideas about what a friendship really is. A meditation on loneliness, recovery, and trust, spoons takes a deep dive into the chaos of seeking companionship in our lonely age.
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spoons

Recommended by

  • Aly Kantor:
    20 Feb. 2022
    “ This play felt like a grown-up, contemporary riff on Catcher in the Rye - broken humans seeking connection in a broken world.

    Both of these fascinating characters have clear and obvious needs - and they SEEM to have found a way to meet them. This play is the slow, thoroughly compelling, completely character-driven reveal of all the ways that is and isn't true.

    'Spoons' sits in the sweet spot between foreign and familiar. These characters have wonderfully unique stories that are somehow beautifully, painfully relatable. How much authenticity do we really owe others in a transactional relationship under late capitalism? ”
  • Jan Rosenberg:
    14 Nov. 2019
    “ This is a really beautiful, concise play about what happens when we let ourselves get too close. Or when we suddenly let someone in. I loved that this was a play about a transactional relationship between 2 strangers and it was never about sex and never went into romcom territory. ”
  • David Hansen:
    26 Apr. 2019
    “ “Spoons” is an urgent and intimate two-hander, one with crackling, witty dialogue and compelling, charismatic characters. It walks a careful line down the middle, present issues of trauma, sex work and compassion from male and female perspectives. I would love to see this performed on-stage. ”
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Character Information

  • Molly
    30,
    Any
    ,
    Female
    Can be played by:
    • Age: 
      20s, 30s
    • Race/Ethnicity: 
      Any race/ethnicity
    • Gender: 
      Female
  • Brad
    27,
    Any
    ,
    Male
    Can be played by:
    • Age: 
      20s
    • Race/Ethnicity: 
      Any race/ethnicity
    • Gender: 
      Male

Development History

  • Workshop
    ,
    The Shelter
    ,
    2017

Production History

  • Professional
    ,
    The Tank
    ,
    2018