←Recommendations of You Have Earned Bonus Stars

Complex flawed characters. Meaningful compelling themes. Sparkling witty dialogue. An engaging mystery. What’s not to love about this play? Who is Jimmy, really? And what is it that’s driving Danielle to go to such extremes to complete her mission? As a read, You Have Earned Bonus Stars is a page-turner. On the stage, it would be a stunner. Superlative in every way. Highly, highly recommended.

Look. I'm somewhat easily excitable when it comes to writing and theatre. I simply love it. So you might have to excuse the hyperbole, but Vince Gatton, in You Have Earned Bonus Stars... He's struck magic. Phenomenal dialogue flies from brilliant and messy characters. You smile and gasp and race with your heart. The rug is pulled. Magic is built in front of you. You gasp. You grin. You lean forward in anticipation. I've read and really enjoyed the companion anthology, but this stands on its own on a high podium. If I never see it, it'd be a shame.

It's inevitable that every time I read a play, a few pages in I can to some extent make a general guess as to what's coming next, and be right. On very rare occasion I find a work that continually surprises me, and when I do, it's absolutely thrilling. YOU HAVE EARNED BONUS STARS is one of those incredibly elusive birds, and the more it circumvented my predictions the more my elation with this text grew. Richly developed characters any actor will chomp at the bit to tackle, deliciously dark humor, and surprise after surprise after surprise. Absolutely love it.

Bonus Stars starts in awesomely constructed chaos which is equal parts frantic & quiet. Gatton has managed to make a 'road trip buddy story' into a quest steeped in discovery & morals, helmed & anchored by the beautifully drawn Danielle. From its first moments I felt each disremembrance of Jimmy like an arrow piercing my soul. Gatton creates in Danielle a moral compass amid trauma; a testament to Gatton's ability to convey what is kind & what is not in mere seconds - and later on, he introduces unexpected shades of gray that do color everyday life.
*GREAT MONOLOGUES HERE!*

Danielle's quest is deeply engaging and hits all the right notes. This is not a dark comedy that exploits its subject. It ennobles the characters and its audience. Simply amazing writing and more than that compassion for humanity and its plights.

Trauma ignites the mind and takes it to places at breakneck speed, taking the senses, the memories, and the imagination along, barely clinging by their fingernails. In this tale of co-workers dealing with PTSD on a scale that to an outside observer seems unreal but perfectly logical and natural to those on the journey, Vince Gatton has encapsulated it with three characters who are so fully realized, wind-whipped, and frantically grasping for a return to what laughingly passes for normal that you are gasping for air. I could not stop reading once I started, and on stage it will soar.

I ADORE this play! I was hooked from the very first moment and absolutely flew through it. A woman survives a workplace shooting because her coworker stands up in front of her and takes the bullet meant for her, and "You Have Earned Bonus Stars" is an exploration of everything that follows that moment. It is so engaging and such a spot-on portrayal of grief and PTSD without being heavy and depressing. Somehow Vince Gatton manages to walk that fine line and delivery a story about violence and its aftermath which is infused with light and hope. I love this.

Without overstating anything (too much) GOOD GOD I LOVE THIS PLAY! Vince Gatton nimbly races along a razor thin – and razor sharp – line, juggling horror, pathos, and most winningly a surprising sense of humor as he limns out his heroine's journey; there are moments of hilarity that are both so inappropriate and yet so right one gasps from the combined shock and pleasure of the feat. Cinematic in the best sense, how I would love to see this staged; so many possibilities for a director with vision and their cast. Love, love, love!

This took all sorts of surprising turns I did not expect, and I eagerly went along for the ride. Equal parts poignant and humorous, "You Have Earned Bonus Stars" manages to look at mortality, violence, and ethics in America with a nuanced lens. Danielle's quest with Jimmy's ashes is such a perfect extended metaphor for the destabilizing and puzzling after effects of violence on the living who are trying to make sense of the senseless and of their own places in the world. The resolution and final scenes are surprising yet feel inevitable and well-earned. Great work!

See, this is what's bonkers about New Play Exchange. That you can be minding your own business and stumble upon a play this *good* - equal parts funny and dramatic - with a galloping plot and richly-hewn characters, and the super insane thing is why isn't this timely, relatable new piece performed all the time?? Gatton's writing style is a pleasure to read, witty and seemingly effortless, charming, theatrical, and moving. How many plays can get us to ask deep questions, without tipping over to the dark side, to treacle or maudlin? This one. This one's just ACES. Dang, Vince.