The Good Boy Game

by Patrick Vermillion

*2024 Finalist for The Relentless Award*
*2023 Playwright's Center Venturous List*
*O'Neill 2020 Summer Conference Finalist*
*Normal Ave NAP Series 2019 Semi-Finalist*

Upon discovering their 16-year-old son is about to commit an unthinkable atrocity, parents Mary-Beth and Sam decide to forgo calling the authorities and de-radicalize him on their own. After tying him up in the attic, they initiate a therapist...

*2024 Finalist for The Relentless Award*
*2023 Playwright's Center Venturous List*
*O'Neill 2020 Summer Conference Finalist*
*Normal Ave NAP Series 2019 Semi-Finalist*

Upon discovering their 16-year-old son is about to commit an unthinkable atrocity, parents Mary-Beth and Sam decide to forgo calling the authorities and de-radicalize him on their own. After tying him up in the attic, they initiate a therapist-recommended rewards-based points system designed to defeat his nihilistic hatred and show him the benefit of being a "good boy." But as they chip away at his ideologies and attempt to bring him back to normal, they reckon with the evil that has lurked within their lives and the part they played in creating it.

read more
  • Inquire About Rights
  • Recommend
  • Download
  • Save to Reading List

The Good Boy Game

Recommended by

  • Lyra Nalan: The Good Boy Game by Patrick Vermillion
    “

    Brilliantly subversive, Patrick tackles the modern discourse around masculinity and radicalization with both wit and unrelenting insight. The characters are hauntingly real and allegorical, culminating in a climax that will leave you breathless.

    Brilliantly subversive, Patrick tackles the modern discourse around masculinity and radicalization with both wit and unrelenting insight. The characters are hauntingly real and allegorical, culminating in a climax that will leave you breathless.

    ”
  • Shaun Leisher: The Good Boy Game by Patrick Vermillion
    “

    This play is a pure mindfuck. A dissection of toxic masculinity and modern-day therapy methods. I don't want to give anything away but just read this play and be amazed by Vermillion's brilliant writing.

    This play is a pure mindfuck. A dissection of toxic masculinity and modern-day therapy methods. I don't want to give anything away but just read this play and be amazed by Vermillion's brilliant writing.

    ”
  • Josh Verges: The Good Boy Game by Patrick Vermillion
    “

    Really wonderful in its subversion of a subject where others might minimize it as low-hanging fruit. Patrick plants that fruit in deep soil, waters them with un-shy exploration, bringing to bear plants with black shade *and* resonant nourishment.

    Really wonderful in its subversion of a subject where others might minimize it as low-hanging fruit. Patrick plants that fruit in deep soil, waters them with un-shy exploration, bringing to bear plants with black shade *and* resonant nourishment.

    ”
View all 13 recommendations

Awards