←Recommendations of Interplanetary Paul's Divorce Spectacular

I was very fortunate to see this funny play be read at Midwest Dramatists this year! I loved how these characters battle it out in the funniest way possible! The nerdiness of Paul and how he uses his obsession with sci-fi movies and comic books alike. I would love to see this piece be staged! Wonderful work Marshall!

I saw this script performed as a reading at the Midwest Dramatists Conference. Very, very funny. Outrageously so. Paul uses his sci-fi black box theater as an escapism from his personal reality of the divorce he is going through and the cat he is missing. But everything goes awry when his ex-wife shows up. Wonderfully executed! This would be a delight to see fully staged!

Poor Paul. Instead of going to therapy to deal with emotions and the grief he's exposing from a recent divorce, he's instead channeled all of that into renting a black box theater arms staging an epic sci-fi fantasy epic. What could be a sitcom setup provides us with a surprisingly touching look into male grief and heartache. I love this play

As the saying goes, men would rather devise an elaborate sci fi performance piece about their failed marriage than go to therapy — in INTERPLANETARY PAUL’S DIVORCE
SPECTACULAR, Marshall Logan Gibbs takes one man-child’s extremely public and theatrical meltdown and turns it into a refreshingly honest, heartfelt, and hilarious short romp. I loved seeing a reading of this play at the Midwest Dramatists Conference, and I’m sure audiences will too!

So, you know that thing where (presumably) adult dudes have such an extreme difficulty processing their feelings - especially concerning failures and disappointments - that they retreat into the pulpiest of fantasies to help deal with them? Well, Marshall Logan Gibbs certainly does, and INTERPLANETARY PAUL'S DIVORCE SPECTACULAR is a, well, spectacular little investigation into a very specific mindset. A hilarious, ultimately theraputic delight.

Gibbs' piece starts out silly (and meta) and ends with an unexpected spurt of emotional honesty. Gibbs does a good job of modulating both, and crafting a substantial-yet-entirely-believable arc of change for a short play. So many plays about people separating never quite establish what brought them together in the first place, but "Interplanetary" shows how some of the things that attract us can also ultimately pull us apart.

Divorce can get really ugly. But, in Marshall Logan Gibbs' play, it can be silly, chaotic, adventurous, and still emotional. In this cutesy play (I mean that as a compliment), we are introduced to Paul, a man who uses his love for sci-fi as a coping mechanism rather than go to therapy. A character like Paul can easily be read as a man-baby, but we quickly get to see how layered he is. Very relatable for anyone who have had, or are currently trying, to make peace with a difficult relationship.

This was a hilarious and heartfelt comedy full of joy, love, and humanity. I love how we get to directly see Paul's caricature of Brenda and Brenda herself juxtaposed with each other, as it really highlights the deeply flawed and immensely human aspects of the end of a relationship. It was nice that, in the end, the former couple could work things out civilly (since in my experience that doesn't happen often!). A fun piece that a creative team would have a ball with!

I was smiling from the opening monologue and then laughing throughout. A lot of funny lines in this clever exploration of marital strife from a space opera perspective. Say what? Oh yes. Amidst all the clever sight gags, wacky physical comedy, and allusions to sci fi works that will make you laugh, there's also some good insight on relationships and general warmth to the whole situation. Whodathunk it? Very enjoyable 10-minute that would fit well into a myriad of formats. Beam this one up!