You will be changed after seeing Friends Like These.”
Powerful performances and a relatable storyline make this a memorable, moving, and above all, must-see show.”
The Show
Click here to read an excerpt of the script!
Format: Full Length
Genre: Drama/Tragedy
Run Time: 90-105 minutes
Cast: 3 Male, 2 Female
In this honest and poignant new play about adolescence, Garret, an outsider, navigates the tumultuous halls of his school with his best friend Diz, a self-proclaimed freak. They escape the day-to-day tortures of high school in a game-world called Haven, where they slay monsters and save maidens. When Garret catches the attention of Nicole, a popular cheerleader with an honest heart, it upsets the status quo. Jealousy and betrayal force Garret to confront past mistakes and question who his real friends are. This gut-wrenching new play unswervingly explores the tragic consequences of bullying that have left us staggering as a nation time and time again.
The level of emotional intelligence, language and teen experientiality of the material is spot on, thus, and relevant as all hell.”
Dramatis Personae
Garrett
The Geek, 17
Diz
The Freak, 15
Clad in an oversized hoodie, baggy jeans and a moniker borrowed from her favorite Tiny Toon, Danielle Watts may as well be just one of the guys. Garrett’s best friend and confidant, she secretly harbors a fierce crush on him but doesn’t know how to express it. When Garrett starts dating Nicole, Diz’s jealousy threatens to get the better of her, and drive her to unspeakable lengths to win him back.
Bryan
The Social Butterfly, 16
Nicole
The Cheerleader, 16
Jesse
The Jock, 17
…a play less about high-school or petty romance, but about identity and the darkness that often fuels it.”
The Playwright
Gregory Crafts
Playwright
Gregory Crafts is a multi-hyphenate creative artist residing in the Arts District of North Hollywood, California with his beloved wife, Jenn, and their cats. Besides writing, his interests include acting, directing, going to the theatre, reading, playing video games, designing web sites, participating in 5k mud runs, reading comic books and practicing martial arts. Greg is a founding member of Theatre Unleashed and is proud to serve as its Managing Director. He is also a card-carrying member of SAG-AFTRA, Actors’ Equity, the Dramatists Guild, a founding member of the Theatrical Producers League of Los Angeles, a member of the Alliance of Los Angeles Playwrights, and an Ovation Voter. Greg likes to spend what little free time he has playing Dungeons & Dragons with his friends or watching the UFC. A proud graduate of Emerson College, Greg also nurses an unhealthy obsession with the Boston Red Sox. gregorycrafts.com.
Crafts eloquently captures the petty jealousies, pointless cruelties, and heightened self-consciousness of painful adolescence.”
Production History
Staged Reading - Write Act Repertory
The first public staged reading of Friends Like These took place here on June 11th, 2007.
Directed by Phillip Kelly, it featured Sean Fitzgerald as Garrett, Jim Martyka as Bryan, Jennifer Knighton as Diz, Susannah Myrvold as Nicole and Joe McClean as Jesse.
World Premiere & Re-Mount - The Sherry Theater
2010 Hollywood Fringe Festival - The Ruby Theatre @ The Complex
2010 New York Int'l Fringe Festival - The Cherry Pit
The SET Group @ The SCV Space
Cal State Fullerton @ The Joseph Clayes III Performing Arts Center
2014 Hollywood Fringe Festival @ The Elephant Space
2014 San Diego International Fringe Festival @ Bread & Salt
2014 ENECORE! Series @ Theatre Asylum
2016 Reuion Reading @ The Belfry Stage
…a shrewd study of modern adolescence.”
Build Your Own LARPing Props
Crafts does a good job of capturing the nightmare of daily abuse… and offers sympathetic insight into those unpopular teens who are pushed to a murderous breaking point.”
Giving Back
Greg is proud to pledge a portion of all royalties and revenues from book sales and licensed productions of Friends Like These to Rachel’s Challenge, a non-profit organization dedicated to inspiring, equipping and empowering every person to create a permanent positive culture change in their school, business and community by starting a chain reaction of kindness and compassion.
Rachel Scott was a remarkable young woman who was known for reaching out to students at her school that were new, lonely or picked on. She was also, tragically, the first victim of the Columbine High School Massacre. Inspired by her writings, her family began Rachel’s Challenge to honor her memory and tackle the issues of bullying and teen sucicde head-on.
…an insightful play. I will be thinking and talking about this show for a long time.”
Contact Us
ABOUT THE PLAYWRIGHT
OTHER PLAYS BY GREGORY