←Recommendations of BLOOD/SUCKER

I love genre plays that can tackle hot-button issues. In Blood/Sucker, Guerzon writes a clever vampire story reflecting the current state of education in America. The symbolism of corrupting the youth by turning them into monsters is not lost on me. The pacing is deliberately fast, allowing the action of the piece to build and build until it reaches its explosive and bloody finale. I would love to see this on stage one day.

Every so often I read a play and am like "dang, I wish I had written this one." Blood/Sucker is one of those plays. From the brilliance of setting the parental rights movement as the backdrop for a public school's vampire infestation to the hyper realism of the student and teacher dialogue, this play GOES THERE in the best way possible.

Guerzon's commentary on the startling epidemic of "empathy burnout" in academic spaces is pitch-perfect. This show refuses to cast any one character as the villain, instead choosing to explore what happens when pressure comes to a boiling point for educators and students alike. This darkly comic drama utilizes the fantastic to explore concepts far more terrifying than vampires.

Blood/Sucker is unique and chilling horror play that uses vampirism to explore the issues plaguing educators and students alike in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic. In a time when education and critical thinking are under constant attack, Guerzon has created a chilling reminder of what is at stake if we give in to ignorance.

Spellbinding and complex in ways that will linger long past the gory final images, Guerzon's timely play dramatizes the breakdown of empathy across two generations, the teachers and the taught. Horrifically effective and insidiously paced, it bravely asks whether trying to care openly about a system designed not to care back is brave or misguided, then leaves the answer with audiences.

A clever piece of satirical horror that examines where we are culturally speaking in a broad sense and, specifically in the context of secondary education. Using a supremely clever extended metaphor, Guerzon explores the ways students, teachers, and administrators alike are impacted by the specter of culture wars, socio-political strife, civil discourse (and the lack of it) in schools. The horror elements are threaded in subtly at first until they reach a grandly theatrical climax!

A fun and scary ride, for all the reasons. Anamaria does a brilliant job of hitting the CRT satire-horror, inducing both laughs and gasps and spooky moments that haunt. Absolutely wonderful.