Our Dear Dead Drug Lord

A SAMUEL FRENCH, INC. TITLE

Our Dear Dead Drug Lord

Full-Length Play, Drama  /  4w, 1m, 1girl(s)

A thriller about four high school girls whose seemingly harmless fun turns into something threatening when the limits of imagination are tested.

Image: 2019 WP Theater & Second Stage Theater Co-Production (Jeremy Daniel)

  • Cast Size
    Cast Size
    4w, 1m, 1girl(s)
  • Duration
    Duration
    90 minutes
  • Audience
    Target Audience
    Adult, Teen (Age 14-18)

Details

Summary
A gang of teenage girls gathers in an abandoned treehouse to summon the ghost of Pablo Escobar. Are they messing with the actual spirit of the infamous cartel kingpin? Or are they really just messing with each other? A roller coaster ride through the danger and damage of girlhood – the teenage wasteland – has never been so much twisted fun.
History
Our Dear Dead Drug Lord premiered off-Broadway at the WP Theatre on September 24, 2019. Directed by Whitney White, the production featured Carmen Berkeley, Daniel Duque-Estrada, Alyssa May Gold, Rebecca Jimenez, Michaela Perez and Malika Samuel.

PIPE – President of the Dead Leaders Club. Brilliant, sophisticated, intense. Makes the rules. Will run a Fortune 500 company one day. Cuban American. Just turned 18.

ZOOM – Pipe’s next door neighbor. Impulsive, hilarious, excitable. Wears glasses. Will go through many phases of "finding herself." Jewish American. 15.

SQUEEZE – Pipe’s best friend. Practical, grounded, creative. Allergic to cats. Will run for congress the second she is old enough. Puerto Rican on mom’s side. Haitian on dad’s side. 16.

KIT – New girl in town. Sensual, mysterious, restrained. The kind of impossibly cool that is both intimidating and seductive. Not so much thinking about the future, only how to get by in the moment. Colombian American. 17.

PABLO ESCOBAR – Colombian drug lord and narcoterrorist who was the founder and sole leader of the Medellín Cartel. 44.

PIPE’S LITTLE SISTER – 9 years old. The paragon of girlhood.

  • Time Period New Millennium/21st Century
  • Setting A treehouse in Miami, Florida. Fall 2008.
  • Features Contemporary Costumes/Street Clothes
  • Additional Features No Intermission
  • Duration 90 minutes
  • Cautions
    • Alcohol
    • Intense Adult Themes
    • Strong Language
    • Smoking

Media

Critic’s Pick! “Highly entertaining – equally funny and scary.” – The New York Times

Four Stars! “Just when you think you know where the play is heading, there’s a disorienting coup de théâtre that leaves you shaken. Our Dear Dead Drug Lord isn’t for the faint of heart, but neither is coming of age.” – Raven Snook, Time Out

Critic’s Pick! “Highly entertaining – equally funny and scary – the play starts off as a hoot and winds up a primal scream. They’re throwing quite a seance at the McGinn/Cazale Theater.” – Ben Brantley, The New York Times

“As funny as it is violent and dark... Our Dear Dead Drug Lord is not quiet, small, or apologetic. It is loud and messy and truthful. It is incredibly complicated and a thing of extreme beauty. It is everything in women that society tells them they need to repress, and in this I found it incredibly enjoyable and inspiring.” – Brittany Crowell, New York Theatre Guide

“The challenges of female adolescence... explored with a remarkably fresh, honest and sometimes hilarious perspective.” – Brian Scott Lipton, Theater Pizzazz

“Unsettling... Scheer’s characters are brilliantly drawn... the work of a born playwright and a unique new voice... As a story of female empowerment, it is both scary and revealing.” – Victor Gluck, Theater Scene

“An imaginative and ultimately savage new play... An offbeat Mean Girls sort of dramedy that unexpectedly concludes in a violent burst of magical realism.” – Michael Sommers, New York Stage Review

Photos

  • Our Dear Dead Drug Lord

    Image: 2019 WP Theater & Second Stage Theater Co-Production (Jeremy Daniel)

  • Our Dear Dead Drug Lord

    Image: 2019 WP Theater & Second Stage Theater Co-Production (Jeremy Daniel)

Licensing & Materials

  • Minimum Fee: £55 per performance plus VAT when applicable.

Scripts

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Authors

Alexis Scheer

Alexis Scheer’s breakout play was the off-Broadway hit Our Dear Dead Drug Lord (WP Theater/Second Stage: NYT Critics Pick, John Gassner Award; LTC Carnaval of New Latinx Work; Kilroy’s List), and she recently made her Broadway debut adapting the book for Andrew Lloyd Webber’s ...

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