Pluto

by Steve Yockey

In the wake of a local tragedy involving gun violence at a community college, single mother Elizabeth Miller and her withdrawn son, Bailey, try to jump-start their relationship across the breakfast table. But with berserker appliances, shifting astronomy, and the talkative new family dog's interruptions, Elizabeth might not be able to really "see" the person she needs to see most.

Genres: Plays

70 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2014

Reviews

[Peter Vo · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm not up to date in the performing arts scene, so it's really interesting to see plays made about everyday modern problems - specifically school shootings. The perspective follows the mother of a school shooter, and it's a position that I feel everyone tends to neglect.

Reading in this out loud in class was fun, but I feel like the dialogue didn't match up with the heavier themes of the play.

[Steven · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pluto’s exploration of the socially estranged, homicidal young male remains authentic despite its surrealistic approach. As the script zig-zags toward its gruesome conclusion, revealing little by little its painful underbelly with each zig and each zag, readers suddenly find themselves squarely in the midst of a psychotic break.

We are left to wonder: do such horrible phenomena as mass killings erupt out of so seemingly everyday estrangements?

[maddie · Rating 5 out of 5]

the metaphors hit me like a bus

[Kayden Merritt · Rating 2 out of 5]

I think the play asked a lot of the audience without a proper pay off. At this point the “it’s all in her head” twist is so predictable it hurts the material.

Similarly to how I feel about “Punk Rock”, we need to start having more nuanced discussions on gun violence. It’s not enough anymore to write about the troubled teen and how they just “wanted to fit in”. Gun Violence is an American epidemic with systemic/environmental roots in our culture. I never felt this play asked us to tackle any questions, it portrayed a circumstance.

I also had an issue with the pedestrian nature of some of the dialogue. I felt the play lacked any sort of forward momentum.

[aLirEza nEjaTi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Death with a cute puppy

[Ann]

Pluto is an amazing, thought provoking play. The difficult subject evolved painfully. In the sterile kitchen where Elizabeth had resided for 20+ years, her painful life unfolded with many colorful characters. She had lived in a time warp, trying to protect her unsocialized son, who mental illness mimicked his father's. The play was very well portrayed at ECSU in Willimantic CT. My review will not be a spoiler.

[E H]

I saw this one live. It alternated between hilarious and heart-wrenching. Definitely surreal, but also frighteningly down to earth. I did tear up a little bit, I'll admit.