Now Available for Licensing

A Play in one act by Barry Smoot

“I have a catastrophic imagination. It’s a gift.”

—BRIAN, KINGDOM OF ANIMALS

Semifinalist, Screencraft Stage Play competition, 2024

THE PLOT

Austin, Texas. The Present. Sam ends up in his apartment after a night of partying with a guy he knows nothing about. The dynamic between the two men explores acceptance, religion, connection, violence, subjugation and fate.

This play explores that void—that gray area in the middle that, if we chose to live there, would give us the strength to accept not only who we are, but who we were. Sam and Brian represent, on the surface, what we perceive as two polar opposites.

 What drives the play forward is how one night of revelation forces them to confront both love and hate—when violence, decadence, legacy, compassion, religion and mistrust forces them into that dark space between who they perceive themselves to be and who they actually are.

As Sam asks in the play: “Did you know that humans are the only creatures consciously trying to understand where we come from?”

WRITER’S STATEMENT

We are all connected, there is no denying that. At the same time, there is a massive void between love and hate that is both difficult to understand and sometime impossible to navigate.

REVIEWS

“This play will move and challenge and, ultimately, satisfy every theatre-goer who experiences it.”

—R Dean Nolen, Texas Tech University

“Themes of family secrets, threats of exposure, self denial, generational and religious trauma are all tightly packed into this potent one act.”

—Christopher Soucy, actor, puppeteer, director, screenwriter, and playwright

“Kingdom of Animals is fearless and fantastic.”

—Val Valdez, author, National New Play Exchange

“… an intense and honest journey. ”

—Paul Donnelly, playwright, Helen Hayes Nominee

“ Duelling agendas slowly revealed the morning after, strangers who are not quite, and tension in 40 different flavors. An engrossing look at a past event still unfolding.'“

—John Hilla, writer, poet, rock journalist

“An insightful view into two histories intertwined by something more than fate, perhaps.”

—Brent Alles, writer, director, Dramatists Guild

“Uncompromisingly bloody and in-your-face, KINGDOM OF ANIMALS grabs you from the first utterance and it never lets go.”

—Mike Byham, Dramatists Guild, AACT

“This is gritty, violent, honest, and examines the very salient gap between disgust and attraction.”

—Johnny Bolduc, playwright

“…fascinating and feral…”

—Ian Donley, Actor, playwright, UC Riverside

THE CHARACTERS

SAM (24) is a lonely guy who moved to Austin, Texas from a small community close to Oklahoma. Since his arrival in the city, he has focused on his job, avoiding coming to terms with the fast paced city life and finding himself mostly alone—with no close friends for support. He is religious.

BRIAN (28) is a mysterious guy who moved to Austin at the age of 18 when his parents divorced.  A bartender by trade, he has now become what we call an “Austinite.” He is also a failed artist, who has lost focus and drive after a string of professional disasters.   He is promiscuous and easily distracted

The two characters can be any ethnicity.  They can also be binary or non-binary.

Warning: This play contains mature matter and language and is recommended for audiences 18+.

THE SETTING

The entire play is one scene that takes place in Sam’s bedroom in his small apartment on the south side of the city. We can see a bathroom door and a door leading to the rest of the apartment. It is sparsely but neatly furnished. There is a small desk with a computer against one of the walls. The is a table against the other wall with some personal effects.


KINGDOM OF ANIMALS is currently under consideration for publication.

i know who my father is, but i actually can’t remember him
i have been blinded; there were many excuses for him to leave,
but only one to stay, and that reason was me;
the choice has faded completely
it’s like a phantom thought both quiet and bold;
my house was like a house underwater
things drifted past me murky and weightless
but every time i hear the sound of a car,
I think it is him, finally, coming to get me.

—BRIAN, (Poem) KINGDOM OF ANIMALS