Barbecue Apocalypse

by Matt Lyle

Three couples gather on the back deck of a very modest suburban home for a mid-summer barbecue where, the hosts, Mike and Deb, struggle with feelings of inadequacy about their home decor, their clothes, their careers, their culinary skills, and pretty much everything else. Ash is a successful yuppy with impeccable taste but annoys the hell out of his wife, Lulu, who likes to get very drunk, very quickly. Win...

Three couples gather on the back deck of a very modest suburban home for a mid-summer barbecue where, the hosts, Mike and Deb, struggle with feelings of inadequacy about their home decor, their clothes, their careers, their culinary skills, and pretty much everything else. Ash is a successful yuppy with impeccable taste but annoys the hell out of his wife, Lulu, who likes to get very drunk, very quickly. Win mistakes his obnoxious confidence for charm and his new girlfriend, Glory, is just too young and beautiful to be tolerated by other women.
Throughout the first act feelings are hurt over the difference between "Organic" and "All Natural" beef, who’s pregnant and who’s just put on a little weight, and a nearly crippling I-Phone addiction. The superficial, neuroses laden interpersonal squabbles bubble over to a flash of inept violence when Win makes what we learn is just one in a series of passes at Deb. As the act closes, the group discovers that the rest of the world has been literally falling apart during their little, terrible barbecue.
Act Two takes place on the same deck for another barbecue to celebrate their one year post-apocalypsiversary. In a year where the only way to measure success is survival, roles have reversed and we explore how each characters' basic nature has allowed them to adapt and thrive or has pushed them to the brink of extinction. Though the drawing-room comedy style persists, their troubles are now very real and a mysterious visitor incites another flash of violence.

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Barbecue Apocalypse

Recommended by

  • Nicole Neely: Barbecue Apocalypse

    Saw the production at Kitchen Dog, WONDERFUL script.

    Saw the production at Kitchen Dog, WONDERFUL script.

  • Kyle Eric Bradford: Barbecue Apocalypse

    Saw a production at Kitchen Dog in Dallas. Excellent deconstruction of modern society with many hilarious moments.

    Saw a production at Kitchen Dog in Dallas. Excellent deconstruction of modern society with many hilarious moments.

Development History

  • Type Reading, Organization Kitchen Dog Theater - Dallas, TX, Year 2013
  • Type Reading, Organization Unicorn Theater - Kansas City, MO, Year 2013

Production History

  • Type Fringe, Organization Verge Theater - Bozeman, MT, Year 2018
  • Type Professional, Organization Charlotte's Off-Broadway - Charlotte, NC, Year 2018
  • Type Professional, Organization The Cuckoo's Theater Project, Year 2018
  • Type University, Organization Richland College, Year 2017
  • Type Professional, Organization The Ruckus Theater - Chicago, IL, Year 2015