←Recommendations of backstroke boys

I got a chance to see a workshop production of this phenomenal play last year. Getting to revisit it on the page reminded why I love this play so much. A play about the expectations we force on young men that just want to be their true selves. These are three very complex and rich characters that are just trying to make sense of their place in the country they call home. Amazing roles for actors of color. This play needs to be produced all over. Necessary questions are being asked here.

This is one of the most profound & meticulously written plays I’ve ever read, especially with only three characters. Clark has created a phenomenal world, mostly taking place in a high school indoor swimming pool, & the push & pull of each character to the others is magnificent. The spotlight on Middle Eastern & African experiences/cultures & the lovely unfolding of the storyline join together beautifully!

There's so much heart and specificity in this play. I was really rooting for Quentin and Zia, and I think audiences around the world, but especially in the United States, would love them and learn from them too.

One of my favorite plays to date! The characters are razor sharp and full of complicated humanity. The poetic exploration of identity that Clark has infused into this story is both a sucker punch and a salve. I can't wait to see this play onstage! Highly recommend!

Premiere Stages, the professional Equity theatre in residence at Kean University, is pleased to recognize “backstroke boys” by Xavier Clark as a Semi-Finalist for the 2023 Premiere Play Festival. “backstroke boys” rose through a competitive selection process conducted by Premiere staff and a panel of outside theatre professionals to become one of 40 Semi-Finalists out of 701 submissions. The panel was particularly impressed by the rich, layered exploration of identity in the two central characters, as well as the fluid structure and tone of the play. Our congratulations and thanks to Xavier.

The community of National Committee readers for the 46th Bay Area Playwrights Festival advanced BACKSTROKE BOYS as a Semi-Finalist at Playwrights Foundation. We were highly engaged by this story of exploring one's identity in the boys' safe space of a high school pool, coming into conflict with faith traditions and Americanization. The dialogue which was natural, compelling and tender and the moments of silence and movement built great tension and there are exciting possibilities for staging. We hope this play is considered for further development and investigation, and finds dedicated collaborators in this play’s journey towards production. #BAPF46

This is one of the best plays I have read in a long time. Simple, beautiful, unique, heart wrenching. So much care was put into these characters and I can see this play having a lasting impact within the theatre.

This is such a tender, heartbreaking story of a young man torn between his culture, race, and family on one hand and young love on the other. Clark suffuses this script with so much richness beyond the dialogue itself—there’s an interesting sound, visual, or light cue on almost every page… I can practically smell the chlorine wafting off the pages. This is a play that I truly hope I get to experience live one day!

A beautiful queer coming-of-age story. The interactions between Quentin and Zia are so delicately rendered. The escalating tensions and ways in which they gauge one another's identities and needs feel so organic and follow such a natural trajectory. I also loved the deeply intersectional nature of their conversations and how their experiences dovetail with and diverge from one another. Ayse, who could be portrayed as a "villain" in less skilled hands is sympathetic, and her loneliness and isolation is effectively illustrated and adds a necessary dimension to her arc. So many beautiful stage images as well!