NPX Weekly Round-Up: Raccoon Play by SMJ
How to write satirical work in an era that itself feels like a satire-- plus three other plays worth a read.
We’ve gone over quite a few more…dramatic works this month, haven’t we? That comes down to my own bias a bit (sorry), as I tend to write more dramatic and serious work.
But we can’t forget the importance of comedy, especially right now. The current state of the world almost demands comedies— escapist ones as well as biting social commentaries.
Raccoon Play by SMJ definitely sits among the latter.
The summary of Raccoon Play on NPX is as follows:
Six young, queer conservatives run the Danville, OH Lions Club, and every year, they host the Danville Lions Club Raccoon Dinner, the largest fundraiser in the town. However, it's 2022 and the 79th Annual Raccoon Dinner is on the chopping block due to a missing member and a lack of funds. Meanwhile, the Danville Raccoon Club is facing an uproar following some dubious election results before The Great Dinner. However, when a gun, an ominous QAnon drop, and a raccoon insurrection come into focus, no one is sure who is on their side.
This play is wacky, ridiculous, gut busting, and frightening— everything a good satire should be. I’ll tell you right now though, there is a content warning for gun violence and transphobic language, so if either of those things bother you, I suggest checking back in with us next week for a different play.
The play starts out with a monologue from a raccoon. Yes, you read that right— a literal raccoon. Quickly the reader/audience realizes that this raccoon is a satirization of Trump, which is both VERY funny and also a little terrifying (which fits the overall tone of the whole show in my opinion). Rapidly we move into the first “act” of the show, featuring a group of young, white, queer conservatives. They immediately start discussing topics like Qanon, so we get the picture right away of where a lot of these characters sit on the political spectrum.
The dialogue in this work is expertly written and edited. The scenes are tight, snappy, and witty as hell, and I laughed and groaned out loud while reading. They read like actual conversations despite being in the ridiculous context of this satire, which I find interesting. I think this might be due to the fact that real life has kind of felt like a satire for the past few years, but to me this dialogue really served the purpose of the play.
Speaking of purpose, anyone reading this play will understand immediately what its author is conveying— how the inhumane, terrifying, insane, and confusing beliefs of the alt-right actively harm individuals, communities, and the country as a whole. And that’s the hard thing about writing a good satire; you want people to get your purpose without being preachy or too cliche. SMJ does this, in my opinion, by really leaning into absurdity as hard as they can. I mean, come on, the raccoons? The fact that half of the characters are anthropomorphic animals really does the play a service in that it shows us the nonsensical atrocities that are occurring in America on a canvas that doesn’t shy away from the absurdity of it all.
As a playwright, I learned a lot from reading this work. I haven’t gotten the opportunity to read a lot of modern satirical plays, so this was an illuminating experience. What I mentioned in the above paragraph about fantasy absurdity being utilized as a canvas to elaborate upon the absurdity occurring in the real world was especially enlightening. I am by no means a satirist (at least currently!), but I feel that even I can take something from this in that sometimes, we need to lean in. It can be scary and maybe even cringey to us at first to write something that feels “too intense”, fearing “preachy” territory, but I think we forget that editing is a thing and we can always pull back! This play has inspired me to really go for it, write the crazy, ridiculous, “too intense” thing. It might be just what the play craves.
Speaking of craving, need more plays to read this week? Here are a few I’ve been taking a gander at on NPX:
Emily Driver’s Great Race Through Time and Space by A.A. Brenner
MUD SEASON by Felice Locker
Chinese Republicans by Alex Lin
Want me to review any of these, or another play? Or even a writing book? Let me know by replying to this email!
See you next week :)
Brynn