The Squirrels
by Robert Askins

Name: The Squirrels
Brand: Robert Askins
SKU: 9780822240365

The Squirrels Book Cover — The Squirrels Cover

Highlights

Female

Male

90 mins Present Day Expandable Casting Multicultural Casting Unit Set/Multiple Settings Fantasy Costumes Comedy

Synopsis

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 – written by Tony-Award-nominee Robert Askins – is a boundary-pushing, darkly satirical look at wealth inequality in which no creature comes out unscathed.

Press Reviews

"The fast-paced 90-minute play… is a witty black comedy about a mixed-race squirrel family decimated by prejudice and greed. Writ large, it’s an apocalyptic tale of America’s cultural divide… [Askins] drops a thought bomb… about our responsibility for the destruction of the environment and for the care of one’s fellow squirrel (and otherwise)."
— San Diego Union-Tribune

"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

"The Squirrels is [an] allegory that launches salvos at current events, framed by a potential apocalypse… Beneath the satire, the play raises serious questions, in particular, why does inequality reign?"
— San Diego Reader

Characters

Character	Gender	Age	Description
Chordata Young gray squirrel. Squirrel sexy. Squirrel smart. She knows the forest is changing. She is in love with Carolinensis. She is perhaps a little too sentimental.	female	—	Young gray squirrel. Squirrel sexy. Squirrel smart. She knows the forest is changing. She is in love with Carolinensis. She is perhaps a little too sentimental.
Mammalia Older gray squirrel. The long-suffering partner to Sciurus. She loves him. Knows his faults. Has aided his schemes. She is dedicated to her daughter and wants only the best for her.	female	—	Older gray squirrel. The long-suffering partner to Sciurus. She loves him. Knows his faults. Has aided his schemes. She is dedicated to her daughter and wants only the best for her.
Rodentia Adopted daughter of Sciurus. Young fox squirrel. She swims with the tide that raises her boat.	female	—	Adopted daughter of Sciurus. Young fox squirrel. She swims with the tide that raises her boat.
Carolinensis Young fox squirrel. Fierce. Strong. Idealistic but hungry. It is after all the dead of winter and mating season is coming.	—	—	Young fox squirrel. Fierce. Strong. Idealistic but hungry. It is after all the dead of winter and mating season is coming.
Sciuridae/The Scientist Gray squirrel. He is smooth. Too smooth. He stares too long. He’s creepy like an evil Rikki-TikkiTavi. The scientist is not a real scientist. He’s a cartoon scientist. Make of that what you will.	male	—	Gray squirrel. He is smooth. Too smooth. He stares too long. He’s creepy like an evil Rikki-TikkiTavi. The scientist is not a real scientist. He’s a cartoon scientist. Make of that what you will.
Squirrel Ensemble	—	—	—
Sciurus Great old gray squirrel. Big. Fat-ish. The greatest gatherer of nuts the forest ever saw. Now gone to seed. Father to Chordata. Partner to Mammalia. Adopted father to Rodentia.	male	—	Great old gray squirrel. Big. Fat-ish. The greatest gatherer of nuts the forest ever saw. Now gone to seed. Father to Chordata. Partner to Mammalia. Adopted father to Rodentia.