←Recommendations of 37 Scenes and a Watermelon

Wild and theatrical, pretentious and dangerous, silly and absurd. "37 Scenes and a Watermelon" is like nothing I've read, and it's jolting. Seriously, what the hell. But also, there's a story here and if you can suspend disbelief that watermelons have nightmares (among other other actions), it'll be affecting. No matter where it's produced, this play will be remembered a LONG time. Ian Downes, you're mad and out there and marvelous. [24/09/18]

Bizarre, hilarious, fascinating and inscrutable. Would love to see it staged, as indeed this is the sort of piece that would truly come to life in performance. Pity the person running the light board tho!

So silly, goofy, and deep. Live. Laugh. Watermelon.*

*My undergraduate students say I should clarify that they are, in fact, the ones who wrote this recommendation. Clearly, this play speaks to Gen Z.

An absurdist winner, this wonderful spoof of experimental, movement-based theater never descends into mockery -- it's way too skillfully done, too actually good in its execution, to go low. This sequence of blackout-sketch lazzi is so cleverly calibrated, so finely escalated, that the laughs, the horror, and the pathos blend magnificently, yielding a tongue-in-cheek love letter to barebones theatricality that also stares into the abyss. Downes has succeeded in having his cake and eating it too -- well, no, actually: his watermelon. Brilliant.

This is truly one of the most insane, unhinged, bizarre, absurd, amazing things I've ever read. This made me rethink how theatre is done.

Such wonderous theatricality! This was my play of the day and what a summer treat indeed.

This play is crazy. I mean literally crazy. But I love it, The watermelon is written so creatively and the scenes are really interesting.