THE STORY: Scurius, the patriarch of a family of gray squirrels, has collected enough nuts to last ten winters. When a group of starving fox squirrels begs him to share his hoard of food, animosity erupts into a ferocious war. THE SQUIRRELS is a boundary-pushing, darkly satirical look at wealth inequality in which no creature comes out unscathed.
“The fast-paced 90-minute play…is a witty black comedy about a mixed-race squirrel family decimated by prejudice and greed. Writ large, it’s an apocalyptic tale of America’s cultural divide…[Askins] drops a thought bomb…about our responsibility for the destruction of the environment and for the care of one’s fellow squirrel (and otherwise).” —San Diego Union-Tribune.
“Crazy? Of course. Crazy is what Askins does. Charming? Yes, that too, and thought-provoking…THE SQUIRRELS offers an amusing tale that challenges assumptions about good and evil, power and tribalism. This is an experience like no other.” —San Diego Local News.
“…an epic, an allegory, a tragedy and a cautionary tale all rolled into one.” —Times of San Diego.
“THE SQUIRRELS is [an] allegory that launches salvos at current events, framed by a potential apocalypse…Beneath the satire, the play raises serious questions, in particular, why does inequality reign?” —San Diego Reader.
