←Recommendations of The Hanging Girl

I love any story that creates a local legend, which always lends it a real sense of place, as well as being effectively creepy, and this play does that really well. The theme of whether or not we're forever defined by our youthful mistakes, if we're ever truly able to change who we are, is potently rendered and lends the story a genuine pathos. The chilling ending makes for an appropriately eerie capper!

A horror/thriller/mystery that is two plays in one, and both work to great effect. I'm particularly taken by the way the second half makes you look back on the first in a new way. Engaging from the start, tense in layered ways, and hitting both thrills, chills, and empathetic sadness, Aleks Merilo has a real winner here!

A very engaging, compelling new work for young artists. The play has a fantastic dramatic build, and a strong payoff. A great scary story for the stage, and tons of intriguing visual choices can be made in production.
I look forward to reading more of Aleks Merilo's work!!

My ADHD sometimes means I read short chunks of plays in public spaces. The thrift store, the gym, the car. There's a sequence in "The Hanging Girl" that is so visually striking and creepy that it stopped me cold in full artificial lighting, surrounded by people. That's fucking powerful. When you talk about the potential of onstage horror, Merilo's epic is a perfect example to point to. Deftly interwoven and theatrically bold, filled with opportunities for choreo and skillful design, this is a stellar tale of the strings that not only bind us together, but those that reverberate throughout history.

This is a chilling story without gore. A great scary tale for student actors to perform. Perhaps even getting dancers involved. There is so much potential to this play on paper that every production can make it their own and audiences will be talking forever about this creepy story and wondering where other familiar folklore may have originated as well.

We produced The Hanging Girl in 2021 for our Halloween show. The script is challenging and rewarding. The teens are written like real-life actual teenagers and not some caricature of what grown-ups think teens are like. There is a super cool movement/dance opportunity in Act I involving a performer as marionette puppet. The humor is welcome and well-written, and the ending hits so so hard. Our audiences were stunned. The Hanging Girl is one of the best shows our program has produced, thanks largely to the quality of this script.

Seve Isaacs, Canyon Ridge High School Theatre

This play brought so much chills through out the play. I played the character Neil and had lots of fun listening to the Hanging girl story. The dialogue fit and it felt like something actual teenager would be saying.

"The Hanging Girl" by Aleks Merilo tells a haunting story that stays with both the actors and the audience. With heavy subject matter and eerily relatable themes, this play is sure to disturb and entertain. As a teenager who performed in this play, the dialogue written for the teens is shockingly accurate, and sadly, so are the dark undertones. "The Hanging Girl" is a chilling play that will leave your audience speechless, and one that provides ample unique performance opportunities for your actors. In short, "The Hanging Girl" is well worth your time.

"The Hanging Girl" is a wonderful, creepy, ghost story of a play. An urban legend comes to life for a bunch of teenagers near an old, abandoned quarry. I especially loved the scenes where the past and the present played out simultaneously. I would love to see this play on its feet.

A haunting and terrifying ghost story that keeps you in it's grip! Suspenseful and well done!