“ Oh what a pleasure this is for actors! For mad scientist Victor… it’s a lot but all things considered he takes it in stride. For instance, it’s vexing when you’re on the verge of a major world changing ethics-committee-rebuke-worthy achievement only to find that someone else already does it as a hobby… and probably better. The nesting dolls, though… a propmaster’s dream. The Laboratory is comedy alchemy. ”

“ I also sort my M&Ms. I don't know why. Forman's monologue comes closer to explaining that tendency more than anything I've encountered. Of course, there's more going on here than sorting candy. Contrasting Skittles and M&Ms is apt, emphasizing how we're all different and all the same, how some things can be either/or and others simply can't.

But it's the personal stories about different generations of very young people and how they define themselves. Profound and simple, this is necessary reading, especially for anyone who "doesn't get the nonbinary/pronouns thing."

This will help you learn. ”

“ A fascinating game of one...downmanship? Two gay hustlers, at least two generations apart, engage in a "who's had it worse" competition while they're waiting for meat to rest. (Not like that! Naughty...) Smith uses queer history sharply, revealing character and life experiences in ways that intimately represent how things have changed and remained the same, especially in how each generation dismisses the experiences of the other. Matter-of-fact in tone and surprisingly unsentimental - the characters and the play itself - it's a stark portrait of a dangerous profession in ever-and-always precarious times. ”

“ What elegant vitriol!

If mental illness is a street fight, then depression is a cage match. And even though our protagonist is taken unawares by this latest onslaught, they are a fighter, a warrior! Their fists are calloused and they know every inch of this cage.

Plumridge also captures depression as contagion. It affects others, how they feel in addition to how we feel about them. It shows you the ugly in the beautiful and the hollow illusion of love. Doesn't matter if it's real. Doesn't matter if you know that.

At this point, the fight is everything! ”