←Recommendations of Interplanetary Paul's Divorce Spectacular

Divorce can be tough. Especially when she takes the cat. So what’s any self-respecting, sci fi loving, recently heartbroken fellow to do? Rent out a black box theatre and slay the heartless cat-stealer in front of a roaring audience of tens. But sometimes even the best planned “Space Spectaculars” can go awry. And when this one does, it is an absolute joy to be able to bear witness to it. The pain of emotional breakup and loss has never been so much fun.

I mean, who HASN'T thought about celebrating the end of a relationship in a grand public display of space opera?
A fun, silly, and eminently relatable story of a man coping with his divorce, its dialogue wizzes and snaps like the clang of two laser swords bouncing off of each other. And, like all good sci-fi, the magic of it lies in its human-ness. In its ability to transend the fantastic, and reflect the mundane. It is a sweet story of a man with a broken heart, just trying to live again.

An offering of great,goofy fun. Divorcé Paul soothes his lingering pain by staging a “spectacular”, a cosplay clash with an evil "ex", a sci-fi harpy dubbed “Brendarr”. But real-world ex, Brenda, shows up-- and she has notes. The two argue in an amusing space-opera duet. Their absurd, acerbic sparring (spoiler alert!) wends its way to heartfelt, mostly down-to-earth interplay, and the promise that a final frontier of mutual respect and good humor awaits the two in the World of Tomorrow.

10/25/205: I saw an excellent staged reading of this brilliant play at the Midwest Dramatists Conference 2025. Indeed, some men would rather rent a black box theatre and stage an elaborate sci-fi fantasy, visualizing their ex-wife as evil incarnate, than go to therapy! The actors and directors would have a field day blocking and performing this piece, and the audience will enjoy it to the fullest! Bravo!

A masterful exploration of our world's love of sci-fi/fantasy/action-adventures and the ways it helps us escape from our problems while never solving them. I got to see an absolute laugh-out-loud performance of this at the 2025 Midwest Dramatists Conference.

10.21.25 - As a divorced nerd, I felt especially seen when I watched a reading of this at the Midwest Dramatist Conference. Marshall Logan Gibbs hits all the right notes (some a little too close to home) in hilarious fashion, and I wonder how my own theatrical show would depict the fallout should I choose to ever explore that avenue. Funny stuff.

I am very sure that there are a lot of people who will see this play and think "Oh, wow, skating kinda close to reality here," and hope that no one who knows them sees behind the curtain. Marshall Logan Gibbs has done a fine turn of storytelling with just the right amount of heart and humor. The reading at Midwest Dramatists 2025 set me up to see this in a full production, and I hope that happens soon.

What a delightful metatheatrical post-marital extravaganza! This will be particularly resonant with overgrown man-children and the people who love them but can only take so much. Gibbs gives us a deeply silly man, an understandably exhausted ex, and a cavalcade of real, complex emotions presented with pathos and aplomb. The staging possibilities are endless! It's a true gift for directors, costume and prop designers, and ACTORS! But the real winners in this divorce are the audience. A joy!

The reading at the Midwest Dramatist Center was raucous. Marshall Logan Gibbs captures the anguish of a nerdy guy who has to create a fantasy world to express his anger. What a fun and touching show. Bravo Marshall!

If you've ever let your imagination run wild creating a fantastic world where you were the fearless protagonist and anyone who disagreed was an intergalactic villain, this funny and touching play is for you. The playwright creatively bends the reality of storytelling and the audience's role to strong effect, and its tender ending left everyone in the crowd smiling and clapping when I saw it live.