Friends Like These

The level of emotional intelligence, language and teen experientiality of the material is spot on, thus, and relevant as all hell. Read the full review at: http://giaonthemove.com/2014/06/09/17383/... full review

Gregory Crafts has written an insightful play about what teens must deal with daily in high school, both the good and the bad. Taking his inspiration from the Columbine shooting, Crafts has put together an assortment of characters easily recognizable from the Geeks to the Jocks and the Popular crowd, letting us see both the camaraderie with their peers and bullying from their haters, for whatever reason. Produced by Theatre Unleashed and directed by Wendy Gough Soroka at the intimate Elephant Space, the show takes a hard look at what we now call bullying in the years before the term became common place or Facebook and Twitter carried the practice to the internet. The five students are all trying to find their way, never mentioning any h... full review

Friends Like These by Gregory Crafts. Review by Pauline Adamek. ***This review first appeared on www.StageRaw.com *** Gregory Crafts’ drama Friends Like These tips its hand during its prologue. In the pitch-dark theater, we hear a montage of news coverage and eye-witness accounts of a shooting rampage at a high school. The lights then come up on a trio of teens wielding foam swords, garbed in medieval attire, spouting archaic English. It’s confusing for a moment until we realize these three are merrily participating in a “Live Action Role Playing”game. Nerdy Garrett (Scott Sharma), Emo girl Dis (Sammi Lappin) and sometime jock Brian (Sean Casey Flanagan) are geeky gamers who hang out together, copping a fair amount of bullying and daily a... full review

Friends Like These is a MUST SEE production that could very well save your life or the life of your kids. It is timely and relevant, and so very much appreciated. Thank you Theatre Unleashed and Gregory Crafts for bringing this amazing work to the Fringe - you may have provided the cure to a problem that affects far too many of us. See the rest of the review on Examiner.com... full review

Encapsulated Review (full review at Bitter Lemons): Making an encore appearance at the 2014 Hollywood Fringe Festival, Theatre Unleashed’s FRIENDS LIKE THESE attempts to provide an answer to the question "How do high school shootings happen?" With the play's ending revealed at the start, writer Gregory Crafts can focus us, instead, on the events that lead to the final tragedy. The strength of FRIENDS LIKE THESE is Crafts’ ability to capture both the pace and awkwardness of high school. Nevertheless, while the central issues addressed by FRIENDS LIKE THESE remain disturbingly current, the play itself is beginning to show its age. Given present trends, it is an unsettling thought that Crafts will likely need to revise and update his play for ... full review

What is it that turns one alienated teenager into a mass murderer while another might opt to grit it out in hopes of an “It Gets Better” post-high school future? These questions lie at the heart of Gregory Crafts’ enlightening, affecting 2009 drama Friends Like Us, back for a repeat engagement at Hollywood Fringe 2014. Geek-in-black Garrett (Scott Sharma), wrestler-nerd Bryan (Sean Casey Flanagan), and angry punk chick Diz (Sammi Lappin) are a trio of inseparable best friends for whom the Medieval fantasy role-play game “Haven” offers weekend escape from their high school hell—that is until in-crowd cheerleader Nicole (Parissa Koo) throws a wrench into their friendship with ultimately fatal consequences. Nicole’s breakup with Garre... full review