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Mad Horse Theatre presents The Squirrels by Robert Askins
October 30th - November 23rd.

Mad Horse presents the Maine premier of The Squirrels by Robert Atkins directed by company member Jake Cote.

Part Romeo and Juliet, part King Lear, and part MacBeth, The Squirrels is a tragi-comical epic of prejudice and greed among squirrels living in a very divided tree.

Scurius,  the patriarch of a family of gray squirrels, has collected enough nuts  to last ten winters. When a group of starving fox squirrels begs him to share his hoard of food, animosity erupts into a ferocious war. The Squirrels is a boundary-pushing, darkly satirical look at wealth inequality in which no creature comes out unscathed.

Cast includes Mad Horse members Lauren Stockless and Marie Stewart Harmon. Guest artists are Andrew Sawyer, Sararose Willey, Nathan Lapointe and Jared Mongeau.
The production staff includes Jake Cote* (Director), Allison McCall* (Production Manager), Ciara Neidlinger (Stage Manager), Juliet Tasker (ASM), Anya Criden-Clark (Costume Design), Florence Cooley (Lighting Design),  Scott Leland (Sound Design), Adam Corriveau (Props Design), Stacey Koloski* (Set Dressing), Joey Cote (Scenic Build Director), and Janice Gardner (Intimacy Coordination)
Mad Horse Theatre Company Member

“The Squirrels is unlike any play I have ever worked on. Much like its titular namesake, it will bite. It’s also deeply and truly funny. Being able to dive into this show with laughter echoing through the rehearsal room as we tackle its vast content has been a real balm for the soul. Buckle up, patrons of the arts, because it is a powder keg, and the wick has already been lit.” - Jake Cote, Director

“Crazy? Of course.  Crazy is what Askins does. Charming? Yes, that too, and  thought-provoking…The  Squirrels offers an amusing tale that challenges assumptions about good and evil, power and tribalism. This is an  experience like no other.” —San Diego Local News.

Robert Askins (playwright) was born in Cypress, Texas, in 1980. He moved to New York in 2005. He won the Obie Award for his play Hand to God and Love Song of the Albanian Sous Chef won a Dallas Outer Circle Critics Award. Other plays include Princes of Waco and the one-act play Matthew and The Pastor’s Wife. His plays Fish Display and Permission have been featured at the Ojai Playwrights Conference. Mr. Askins is proud to be an alumnus of I-73, Youngblood, and a member of the Ensemble Studio Theatre. He has received two EST/Sloan grants, an Arch and Bruce Davis Award, and is one of the 2012 recipients of the Helen Merrill Award for emerging playwrights.

Content Warning: The Squirrels is rated R for depicting squirrel-related onstage violence, promiscuity, absurd behavior, and adult language. Recommended for audiences 16+.

There will be a food drive for non-perishable items during the run.

Shows are Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday at 7:30 and Sundays at 2:00 and 5:00.


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