Friends Like These

The play is full of violence and abuse, culminating in a tragic confrontation which leaves everyone devastated. Wonderfully written, Friends Like These is a must see play and will put a knot in your stomach by the end.... full review

"Friends Like These" is an amazing play. Five high school kids are torn between social conformity and the impulses of the heart. But here, as in life, young love is tragic love, new and strange and deeply felt, with competing peer groups, shifting alliances, tested loyalties, and secret passions. Writer Gregory Crafts puts his five characters through the emotional and psychological wringer that is high school. He builds tension throughout his tightly-paced plot, and caps it with a satisfying end that nails his theme to the floorboards. His characters are finely drawn and the dialog is for the most part seamless (with the exception of a few on-the-nose discussions of jocks vs. geeks). The use of live-action role-playing (LARPing) is great the... full review

The first linear story I've seen told at the fringe, it was sort of a relief. A story we've all heard (or experienced) told in a well written, funny, very well acted manner accompanied by an AWESOME soundtrack that I could easily see transferring to film as the short scenes & their set changes was the one of the only things I didn't love about this show. Running an hour 45 (sans intermission) there are several slightly repetitive areas I could see trimmed taking the show down to a more comfortable 1:30. Besides the point though. Because I still loved the story, the show & everything it made me think, feel & want to change. Getting to revel in my geekdom I loved (and couldn't stop laughing at) the jokes from Pokemon vs Magic cards to ... full review