←Recommendations of Erstwhile

Whaaaaaat. Well, I won't sleep tonight. I don't know how you craft a successful horror play in ten minutes, but Chris Soucy sure does. And the twist that I thought would be the twist was NOT THE TWIST. There was A DIFFERENT TWIST. Five stars.

02.07.26 - Holy cow, that was creepy AF. Chris Soucy knows not only how to build tension with his writing, but the perfect breaking point to release it. The mind games going on were unsettling as it is, but then when someone long since gone comes into the story in an unexpected way, well, I bet there'd be an audible gasp from any audience lucky (or unlucky in this case) enough to see it on stage.

Saying that a Christopher Soucy play is scary doesn't begin to cover it because there's so much more to them than just suspense and jump-scares. His work mines the psyche in ways that few playwrights can carry off, and each one is a new journey. His take on the title of "Erstwhile" does it again with suspense set up so well and even if you think you know where it's going, you really are in for a jolt. I don't know how he does it, but I'm glad I don't. Just read it, stage it, and ...

Soucy's ERSTWHILE is chilling and comes at you exactly as something in a nightmare would - out of nowhere. This is a very enjoyable short play with elements of the campfire tale.

This most effective horror play comes racing out of the gate and then builds and builds to a stunning twist ending. Even the moment involving cell phones that seems to offer humorous relief turns out to be a trigger. I was held in this play's thrall from beginning to shocking end.

Nightmares can be truly terrifying, but the ones that seep into real life? Devastating. SOUCY knows horror, and his writing lulls you into thinking you are safe... but you never are in his creative and capable hands. FABULOUS!