NPX Weekly Round-Up: My God, It's a Walrus! by Max Berry

An absurdist look at religion, relationships, and sacrifice, plus 3 more plays I added to my NPX library this week.

We all have our feelings about religion and spirituality. Whether you were raised in a strict organized religion, only went to church on big holidays, or never went into a religious building at all, you definitely have feelings about it in some way (even if those feelings are ‘apathy’). Personally, I was raised Catholic and went to church almost every Sunday until I was about 18 years old. Now I identify as Pagan, which if you know anything about Catholicism you will find a little bit of humor in. Most of my close friends were raised only going to church on bigger holidays, or not going at all, and it’s so interesting to compare our experiences and thoughts.

One of the things I love to talk about with others is how they view “god” or “the source” or whatever you want to call it. I have been known to assert that one of the moments I knew I had to leave Catholicism officially was when I realized I could no longer view god as a man. Others, mostly women and Queer people, have often agreed with me. What I haven’t previously encountered, until I read Oh God, It’s a Walrus! by Max Berry, was someone asking the question: “What if god was real and also a walrus?”

Yeah, we’re talking ‘walrus god’ today on “A Playwright’s Journey”.

Here’s the official synopsis from NPX:

A love story between an atheist podcaster and God but God's a Walrus.

Yeeeeep. That’s it! And really, it’s all you need to know to figure out if this play is something you would be interested in reading or seeing. Interested in a love story? Perhaps, a love story between a deity and an atheist? Then you’ll like this— even if you find the walrus bit a little strange!

We start off seeing a recording session between our main character, Marcus, and his podcast producer, Doug. We learn that Marcus’s podcast, Dr. Atheist, is extremely popular— and yet, it seems to be hitting a snag lately. According to Marcus, a lot of the crazy extremist Christians that he usually interviewed and/or debunked are getting less…interesting. Doug suggests that maybe it’s time to pivot, that the podcast has enough viewers that they could make anything they want. But Marcus is reluctant to let go, leading to Doug quitting as his producer.

It is then that we get what I would consider the true inciting incident. Marcus pulls up social media and scrolls, trying to find wacky Christian content to comment on, and happens across a video of a someone supposedly in a walrus costume. The user making the video says:

Yo this walrus costume is insane! It looks so real. Motherfucker is saying he’s God. So guess God is a walrus, you guys. Who knew?

And we’re off to the races.

Marcus goes off to find said walrus, and what follows is an absurd, sweet, strange, and heartbreaking Queer love story about faith, trust, and sacrifice. How does someone who’s always believed that god does not exist come to terms with not only the existence of god, but with falling in love with god? And god themselves isn’t perfect, far from the omnipotent all powerful being present in Abrahamic religions. God isn’t just a walrus— god is fallible, imperfect, and even spiteful. On top of all of that, walrus god’s ex, Tippy the dinosaur, is out for revenge (you can probably guess for what).

Marcus’s podcast continues as usual, with Marcus railing against religion and the very belief in a god. Walrus god (Wally, as he is known) is deeply hurt by the fact that Marcus will not publicly announce his change in beliefs. Wally feels like Marcus is hiding them, in a way. Not only that, Tippy wants to make Wally as miserable as they made him, and has no problem hurting Marcus to do that. All of this is in direct service of one of the main dramaturgical questions of the play: “What is an acceptable amount of sacrifice in a healthy and happy relationship?”

In the end, Wally arguably makes the largest sacrifice a living being can make. And honestly, it’s not presented as a black and white, good or bad thing. It is just a sad thing that reveals a deep longing within all sentient beings— to love and be loved.

Honestly, I feel that this play functions in a similar way to a lot of supernatural romances in that it utilizes the magical nature of the love interest to reveal something achingly human. I’m not saying Oh God, It’s a Walrus! is the new (and better) Twilight, but I will say I think this play uses the trope a lot more responsibly! It’s a trope for a reason— it heightens the stakes of the love story to reveal the themes more clearly.

This is yet another example of a playwright following their craziest impulses to their logical end, and the play being all the better for it. Berry’s work is all like this—taking absolutely ridiculous, maybe even dumb sounding premises and making them into something that kicks you in the stomach.

I love reading plays like this that remind me as an artist that there are no ideas too crazy or too “silly”. You can truly make anything beautiful if you put your heart, soul, and expertise into a piece. Berry proves that with every play he writes.

Here is my official recommendation on NPX:

Berry's work is so distinctive. He has such a unique way of thinking that he brings to every piece that is equal parts absurd and achingly genuine. This piece starts out utterly ridiculous, a total laugh-out-loud comedy, and ends in a tragedy straight out of Shakespeare. Seeing this fully staged would only heighten these juxtapositions! Would be an amazing piece for a company with an wacky yet caring identity.

Have you read this play? Or perhaps, do you want to? Leave a comment down below and let me know!

Here are three other plays I discovered this week:

• stuffed by claire dettloff

• Soul Magnet Beneath the Limestone by Dane Futrell

• bloody noses by Matilda Corley Schulman

Want me to talk about any of these plays, or perhaps, yours? Let me know by responding to this post via email or messaging me on the SubStack app!

Happy writing (and reading)!

~Brynn