←Recommendations of A Comedy of Manners

What a mess! I don’t mean this delicious play, which is tightly and precisely structured with delightfully unforced rhymes and the snappy pace of a restoration comedy. I mean the characters Sampieri depicts with a generous yet lacerating eye, who enter into a polyamorous arrangement for the wrong reasons, and whose relationship issues won’t be solved by the involvement of outside parties. An insightful and incisive comedy about love, revenge, and how we fit into each other’s lives, this play is a blast to read and will surely be a blast to perform/watch!

“The Polycule” is thoughtful, clever, and metered in more ways than one; Jillian Blevins absolutely nails the challenges and pitfalls of non-monogamy by examining both what is required for them to succeed and the reasons they can often fail. This play’s diverse cast of characters may seem broad at first, but Blevins manages to imbue each with human flaws that highlight the play’s themes and thesis: a successful relationship, no matter how many partners are involved, cannot be built on a foundation of distrust, selfishness, or dishonest communication. This comedy of manners demands to be staged!

Blevins' Moliere-esque knot is a staggering and hilarious achievement, deftly bringing modern topics into classical theatrical style. What's even more impressive is how she's juggled the delicate nuance of exploring her many characters' orientations and genders respectfully, yet allowed them to be real people with jealousies and imperfections at the same time. No one's the butt of a joke. It's resulted in the best kind of comedy, something funny, but also grounded in humans being helplessly human. So many great one-liners and stage pictures, and a perfect example of what we're missing in the work being produced today.

A perfect satire of the complexities and piccadillos of polyamorous life. Moliere would be absolutely delighted by this titilating verse comedy-- and contemporary readers and audiences will too. A truely exceptional comedy of manners for the 21st century! I'm simply tartuffified! :)

This dazzling comedy of hypocrisy among the polyamorous is taken to dizzying heights by its sophisticated verse. The farcical action builds as the relationships among members of the polycule are revealed to be even more complex than they first appeared. The Polycule is brilliantly constructed and deliriously funny.

Simply brilliant! Actually, there’s nothing simple about it. To create a modern farce in rhyming verse and have it be so much fun… I take off my hat! And in this play, there is certainly the suggestion of taking off much more! Jillian Blevins has certainly opened my eyes to a world I knew nothing about. But the enjoyment of this piece comes from seeing that basic human foibles exist even in the most unconventional relationships. Guaranteed to be a crowd pleaser!

A farcical exploration of polyamory and those who should not participate in it, Blevins creates a fun romp into the world of jaded lovers and lovely rhymes.

OK, I'm a sucker for modern mores examined in classic styles and POLYCULE delivers a setup Moliere would find irresistible. Fern from Dubuque joins her boyfriend and his wife for dinner as a potential trois to their menage. Only to find that the interview process includes the other four members of their poly-paradise. Fern learns that free love entails more rules than the tax code and just as many schemes to subvert those those rules. As one character points out it's a farce without doors. Doors would only slow down this freewheeling comedy in verse. C'est extraordinare.

This is absolutely brilliant. The amazing construction of this poetic musing on Moliere and the sexual politics of polyamorous relationships just hits all the right buttons. Jillian has entered into a sublime zone where the dialogue is both natural and highly structured. A truly epic work! Brava!

The sexy complex world Jillian Blevins creates with THE POLYCULE is incredible, mind-boggling, very very great. The conceit of combining Moliere’s aesthetics with a trip into a poly-sexual household is - Wow! The rhyming humor couples with curiosity as we move with novitiate Fern through the relationship maze. Her entry gives structure to a play that follows a group character arc. With New Relationship Energy, I fell into the fold. Blevins maps out the spheres of influence six dazzling characters have on each other. And by the flawless ending, I was thunderstruck by all I was feeling. Read this!