←Recommendations of SMOKING FAGS ON A ROOFTOP

This play paints a very dystopian but intriguing image of the world falling apart while a group of young men act as if nothing is happening. Not until a much older man comes in and begins to open their eyes. This play is a very dark but important piece that will make you think of the world in a different way.

This is Craig Houk at his darkest, bleakest, most hopelessly dystopian. As the world falls apart, Houk nimbly, and with terrifying precision, paints a vivid picture of humanity with blinders on, quickly becoming like late nineteenth century author William T. Stead, who reportedly went down with the Titanic calmly reading a book in the first class smoking room while all hell was breaking loose around him. A hard, chilling, but necessary read.

A dystopian portrait of slowly boiling frogs, semi-content in their little pot. As for what's going on in the world outside, Craig Houk lets us see but through a glass darkly; we glean just enough to know it's bad, and that worse is yet to come. A claustrophobic and devastating indictment of complacency in the face of ruin.

08.29.25 - Everybody is useful in their own way. Or maybe a more cynical way to look at it is, everybody gets used whether they like it or not. In this dark, politically charged dystopia, all the characters here don't seem to really realize what their role is in society. All they know is, they just want a smoke. As in real life, we don't always know how we are being used by others to fulfill an agenda. This is sadly smart and a bit of an eye opener from Craig Houk.

If you read this play(let) carefully, Houk's characters will give you the necessary clues about what's actually going on--although at least three of the young men don't themselves know. But even so, you may not be fully prepared for the devastating last lines. I am a huge fan of Houk's work, and this play ranks among his best. There are so many lines to savor. Read it, laugh, and weep.