Breeders

Two men, Dean and Mikey, prepared for ages to have a baby, but now Dean’s doubts gnaw at him. Two hamsters, Tyson and Jason, are abruptly pregnant with nine babies, and now Tyson’s fears nibble at her. Nobody was planning to eat anyone. Things just got out of hand.
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Breeders

Recommended by

  • Daniel Bird Tobin:
    11 Jan. 2023
    A wonderfully funny and yet also slightly terrifying examination of love, family, and existential dread.
  • Faith Decker:
    11 Jan. 2023
    Both a cheeky and sometimes even gut wrenching play about the politics versus the nature of parenting, cohabitating, and love. The stakes are high for all characters - but the world they're painting on stage with their anxieties and potentially even the set feels so outlandish in contrast. The dialogue is so natural you forget you aren't just overhearing the couple in the walk up next to you that always forgets to shut their window. A really lovely read. I hope to see it staged near me!
  • Giulianna Marchese:
    11 Jan. 2023
    Dan is a very skilled writer. There are so many powerful themes in this play. I was really struck by the idea of children as a force that binds a couple permanently in a way that marriage or co-habitation doesn't. The hamsters are literally in a cage together, but the thing that traps them is having children. Likewise, eating those children can be something you do out of love or a way to escape that relationship.

Development History

  • Reading
    ,
    Great Plains Theatre Conference
    ,
    2016
  • Workshop
    ,
    Dixon Place
    ,
    2016

Production History

  • Professional
    ,
    FaultLine Theater (San Francisco)
    ,
    2017
  • Professional
    ,
    New Light Theater Project
    ,
    2017

Awards

Winner
,
New Light New Voices Award
,
New Light Theater Project
,
2017
Winner
,
Mark Twain Prize for Comic Playwriting
,
KCACTF
,
2016
Finalist
,
Bay Area Playwrights Festival
,
Playwrights Foundation
,
2016
Finalist
,
Core Apprentice Fellowship
,
Playwrights' Center
,
2016
Finalist
,
Playwrights' Week
,
The Lark
,
2016