←Recommendations of Victorian Psychedelic Sleepover Play

This is a play that anyone who wants to introduce new works should consider producing. It's one of those plays where you can feel the passion and emotion in it just from reading it. Mak Shealy beautifully displaces the passion towards art in every component of the script from the characters to the stage directions. Reading this play truly felt like a psychedelic experience (just as it was intended). There are plenty of roles for younger actors to sink their teeth into. I'd love to see it live!

With a name like Victorian Psychedelic Sleepover Play you knew it had to be good, right? This play is pure teenage creative angst in the best way possible. The characters are cripplingly insecure and actively discovering themselves and obsessed with the past and scared of the future and just want to make something that lasts but not in a basic way, ya know? They are us and we are them, so sit back, learn something about Victorian Literature, and enjoy the ride. Shrooms optional.

This is a heartwarming coming-of-age story about a group of teens grappling with the difficulty of being an artist. The characters are writers and the script is full of bon mots that reflect how much they love language. This play is a must-read and would be so fun to see on stage!

Full of life, this play functions like a spell, whipping you into the fervor of teenhood and carrying you through with humor and blunt force honesty. A really good time that would no doubt come to life beautifully in performance.

An unapologetic joyful void-scream about the tension between the stability of external validation and the radical uncertainty of self-endorsed art. In every aspect it mirrors the feeling of the furious teenage zine at its center: always a little out of focus, but with passion and raw desire that make it compelling at every moment. A play demanding multiple reads to pick up its deep layers – and a production by a brave theatre company.

Mak has a way of giving agency and competency to young voices through their writing that is uncanny, which is on full display in VPSP. As the characters in this play navigate the highs and lows of being teenagers who feel a lot of feels fully and authentically, Mak's language begins to transcend centuries, literary icons and theatrical boundaries. I can't wait to see this play produced!

Imagine if the babysitters club got together and were super literary and created a zine and took a sh-t ton of drugs. Most writers need drugs to get to Mak's level of consciousness. her plays are so immersed with poetry, history, and smelly, smelly teen spirit.

Loved this play when I saw it read at IAMA! Shealy's writing is razor-sharp and hilarious - it feels incredibly contemporary and fresh even as it crosses into the Victorian Era. Can't recommend this play enough!

I absolutely loved this play!! A celebration of female friendships and DIY art-making!!!