←Recommendations of sad girl hours

Incredible queer characters and great dialogue. A thrill to read.

The community of national & local readers for Bay Area Playwrights Festival in 2021 enthusiastically recommends SAD GIRL HOURS as a Semi-Finalist at Playwrights Foundation out of 755 plays. We were deeply moved by the writer’s naturalistic dialogue, profound character work, and impeccable specificity of time and place. We're compelled by the play's promise, as it explores power dynamics related to race, gender, and class in even the most “woke” spaces, all as natural disaster looms nearer. We hope this play is widely read, finds dedicated collaborators, and moves swiftly towards production. #BAPF2021

so SO good-the teenage dialogue feels authentic and the characters and their struggles feel so real and heartbreaking

This play is a master class in creating authentic teenage dialogue and highlighting the best of queer friendships (and more-than-friendships). This play is poignant as a coming of age story and has comedic moments that make you flash back to your own teenage antics! A great work for college campuses to produce and use in scene study courses!

sad girl hours by Libby Carr was part of the 2020 NNPN MFA Playwrights’ Workshop, a partnership between the Kennedy Center Education Department (the American College Theatre Festival) and Stanford University’s National Center for New Plays

This is the play I needed when I was in high school. Carr emphasizes the importance of feeling, human connection, and growth. The story centers on a group of friends who are attempting to find themselves as individuals while working through complex emotions evoked by the barriers of high school, life after school, queerness, and relationships. These characters are multifaceted, and would be perfect to explore in a collegiate setting.

I loved spending time with these rich, layered characters. The pairing of short, potent scenes with longer ones that embraced the irregularities of natural speech gave this overall sense of hanging out with and getting to know a group of humans at key turning points in their lives. Carr's attention to the rhythms of humanity is amazing. What a joy to see an ensemble of young Black and brown queer characters in a story focused on small seismic shifts in relationships and nuanced goals and dreams. The theatricality of the shelter setting, dance, and music was also exquisite!

An authentic, sharp, and devastating exploration of the intersections of friendship and sexuality. Carr has created an ensemble of specific, clearly defined characters who have palpable wants and needs beyond the shelter they all hang out in. Carr also displays a sharp, unerring ear for the way that teenagers speak. A perfect play for college-aged performers.