The Sparrow

by Chris Mathews, Jake Minton, Nathan Allen

Play

Paperback

First published January 1, 2007

Reviews

[Jessica Hirsh]

This is. Without a doubt. One of the worst plays I've ever read. I actually want to take it off of my classroom shelf and throw it out.

This play has it all. Guns. Teachers kissing high school students and shown in a sympathetic light. Racist depictions of native Americans. Kids in their underwear on stage. All handled in the most hamfisted, underwritten, gross way.

What the actual hell did I just read. Who the heck is this for??

[AnnaRae Martin]

If it were two things in this play, one major one minor, it would be a five. It would be interesting to see this play done though a movie version would be great too.

[Lexi]

Idk what I just read ngl

[Megan]

One of the best - like top 3 - plays I've ever seen in Chicago. It's a shame I don't think this has been performed again since its debut.

[Brittany]

I was first introduced to this play in an Acting class several years ago. We watched the majority of The House Theatre of Chicago's production and I was absolutely captivated. Unfortunately, we ran out of time to finish the film and I never got to see how it ended. I was very excited to track down a copy of the play to finally learn how Emily Book's life plays out.

The play is intricate and impossible which I find enchanting. To have the opportunity to create Emily Book's world and explore the ways to make the impossible possible would be exhilarating.

This play is truly revealing. It explores concepts such as the fleeting nature of popularity, young love, understanding, and acceptance. Emily Book is captivating and there is a strong desire to see her succeed or at least find that strength to accept herself. I believe the ending of the play can be interpreted in this way. Depending on the mood the theatre company may wish to leave the audience with, the final scenes can be directed to end on high or low emotions. This power is incredible.

[Julie H. Ernstein]

The Sparrow is an interesting play that would resonate well with high school and college-aged actors and audiences. It tells the story of Emily Book, the sole survivor of a second-grade bus accident that claims the lives of all of her classmates and the driver. Emily returns to Spring Farms, Illinois, 10 years later to complete her senior year of high school. As she has no living family, she is taken in by one of her former classmates' family. It's your typical story of teenage angst, an outsider trying to chart her way, families dealing with loss, superhero powers, guilt, and the power of forgiveness (of ourselves and others). It'd be the perfect show for a small studio or black box theatre.