''Squirrels'' is a one-act play by
David Mamet
David Alan Mamet (; born November 30, 1947) is an American playwright, filmmaker, and author. He won a Pulitzer Prize and received Tony nominations for his plays ''Glengarry Glen Ross'' (1984) and '' Speed-the-Plow'' (1988). He first gained cri ...
.
The 1974
comedy
Comedy is a genre of fiction that consists of discourses or works intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, film, stand-up comedy, television, radio, books, or any other entertainment medium. The term ori ...
is about Arthur, a middle-aged,
egotistical
Egotism is defined as the drive to maintain and enhance favorable views of oneself and generally features an inflated opinion of one's personal features and importance distinguished by a person's amplified vision of one's self and self-importan ...
hack writer
''Hack writer'' is a pejorative term for a writer who is paid to write low-quality, rushed articles or books "to order", often with a short deadline. In fiction writing, a hack writer is paid to quickly write sensational, "pulp" fiction such as ...
who has been working on the opening line of a story involving a man's encounter with a
squirrel for fifteen years, and Edmond, the young fledgling writer he has hired as a secretary/collaborator. They soon discover that Arthur's flamboyant redundancy clashes with Edmond's mediocre
melodramatic style as they each develop increasingly ridiculous
scenario
In the performing arts, a scenario (, ; ; ) is a synoptical collage of an event or series of actions and events. In the ''commedia dell'arte'', it was an outline of entrances, exits, and action describing the plot of a play, and was literally p ...
s for the story. They are joined by Arthur's cleaning lady, also an aspiring writer, whose suggestions seem to be the most promising, but they too eventually bog down in banality.
In October 1974 Mamet directed the first production of the play at the St. Nicholas Theater Company in
Chicago, Illinois
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
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. "Squirrels" was produced by the Philadelphia Festival Theatre for New Plays, in January 1990, at the Harold Prince Theatre, Annenberg Center. The director was William H. Macy, who had performed in the Chicago production.
The British premiere was presented by The Mandrake Theatre Company at the Kings Head Theatre, London in 1993. Directed by Aaron Mullen
In more recent years it has been staged by the Philadelphia Fringe Festiva
Upstairs at the Gatehouse in
North London
North London is the northern part of London, England, north of the River Thames. It extends from Clerkenwell and Finsbury, on the edge of the City of London financial district, to Greater London's boundary with Hertfordshire.
The term ''nor ...
br>
and the Blue House Theatre Company and Criterion Theatre in
Santa Monica
Santa Monica (; Spanish: ''Santa Mónica'') is a city in Los Angeles County, situated along Santa Monica Bay on California's South Coast. Santa Monica's 2020 U.S. Census population was 93,076. Santa Monica is a popular resort town, owing to ...
br>
The play was published in a
paperback
A paperback (softcover, softback) book is one with a thick paper or paperboard cover, and often held together with glue rather than stitches or staples. In contrast, hardcover (hardback) books are bound with cardboard covered with cloth, le ...
edition by
Samuel French
Samuel French (1821–1898) was an American entrepreneur who, together with British actor, playwright and theatrical manager Thomas Hailes Lacy, pioneered in the field of theatrical publishing and the licensing of plays.
Biography
French fou ...
in 1982 (
{{Mamet
1974 plays
Plays by David Mamet