This play reminds me of a quote from Roddy Piper: "Just when you think you have all the answers, I change the question!" From the first moment, the answer to why these two characters are where they are evokes a sense of dread. Then, after the reveal of what happened, Prillaman utilizes his strong character writing to create authentic twists and turns. This feels like a lens into the immature and often cruel psyche of young adulthood. These characters are authentic and likable while still acting foul to each other. This scene will stick with me for a bit!

Yes! Take that deep, dark repression and turn it into queer horror! From the first image, there is a serious sense of dread and foreboding that only grows as the depraved dialogue (I LOVE Audrey's deliciously specific dialogic voice) brings the truth to light. From there, the delightfully effed-up scenario becomes downright riveting, with the power dynamic shifting and crumbling and rebuilding itself before our eyes. It is not at all romantic - it's just hungry and desperate from beginning to end, with the high stakes dictating every choice. This is creepy, uncomfortable, unsettling, disturbing fun! Plus... poor Octavia!

As is often the case in Prillamanland, Octavia is both deliciously right and horribly, horribly wrong. The characters are vividly drawn, the dialogue crackling, the stakes suitably high; and when the power shifts and counter-swerves arrive, they are unexpected, icky, exciting, and unsettling. Prillaman knows uncomfortable truths about the human condition, and is unafraid to play them out. We are all better for it.