Outer Critics Circle nomination, Outstanding Solo Performance (Alison Fraser)
Off-Broadway Alliance nomination, Best Solo Performance (Alison Fraser)
Sharon is an Upper West Side shrink, a longtime recovering alcoholic and world-class hemophobe (fear of blood), who finds herself in the South Plains of Texas, off her psychotropic drugs, after her nephew's sudden death. Squeamish is a grotesque tale of phobia and compulsion as two sides of the same coin, a minimalist work of psychological horror about craving what terrifies us most.
Squeamish was originally produced Off-Broadway by All For One Theater (Michael Wolk, Artistic Director; Nicholas Cotz, Producing Director), opening on October 16th, 2017 at the Beckett Theatre/Theatre Row. The production was directed by Aaron Mark; the costume advisor was Michael Growler; the scenic and lighting design were by Sarah Johnston; the associate lighting designer was Sophie Talmadge Silleck; the production stage manager was Kaleigh Bernier; and the assistant stage manager was Craig M. Rosenthal. The play was performed by Alison Fraser.
Squeamish was developed through a NYTW summer residency at Dartmouth and a Labyrinth Theater Company Barn Series presentation.
"[A] ghoulish new play...Sharon is an entertaining raconteur whose ordinary life has taken a Grand Guignol turn...Squeamish is a play about blood — the fluid that flows through our veins, the kinship we feel or don’t for our own families, the temperaments that we struggle to keep in balance...Though we see the play’s considerable gore — and its hard-core-niche sexual situations — only through the mind’s eye, Squeamish is probably not for the squeamish. But to grown-ups who like to celebrate the season with frightful tales quietly told, happy Halloween. Mr. Mark has a fresh horror for you." - New York Times
"[A] tour de fear...As we watch this sophisticated and stylish New Yorker gleefully transform into a monster, her gory self-discovery is utterly horrifying." - Time Out New York
"A story that does take on the air of something that opened up would be right at home on American Horror Story...The flavor of something a leering camp counselor might import to trembling youngsters around a campfire." - Huffington Post
"Mark has quickly established himself as one of New York City’s premier purveyors of intense, haunting one-person dramas...Some audience members [might] experience bloody nightmares, but that’s a small price to pay for witnessing this engrossing piece of theater." - This Week In New York
"[Aaron Mark] specializes sending chills up and down spines with his solo theatrical thrillers...Fraser gives a deceptively charming portrait of a clever woman who would be the hit of any penthouse cocktail party, slowly revealing her seductive (or repulsive) darker side. Her ability to remain engaging while being seated for the entire length of the play is a credit to the details of her acting skills and the fine pacing of the playwright/director's surprising story...To call Squeamish a bloody good time may be too obvious a pun, but Aaron Mark once again displays a sharp skill for descriptive and entertaining storytelling." - Broadway World
"I’m still shivering from that memory...The payoff will be a stunner even, if like my companion you see where we're being taken— and even more so if, like me, you're less inclined to entertain in real life certain aspects of psychological horror as this play so deftly embraces." - CurtainUp
"A horror-laced monologue about the aftermath of a suicide that will likely twist your innards and disturb your sleep. It’s theater at its most provocative. Consider yourself warned." - Theatre Is Easy
"Squeamish is definitely a 'horror' play that takes the genre to new and higher heights. It’s hard not to recoil as the details of her story become more and more vivid." - TheaterScene
"So effective, I left the theater feeling somewhat off-balance myself, and not a little squeamish." - ZealNYC
"Like an Alfred Hitchcock episode...Squeamish is the perfect horror story for this time of the year and would make a great campfire fright night tale." - Times Square Chronicles
"Hitchcock-ian!" - TheaterPizzazz
"A haunting journey of one’s own imaginings in the semidarkness. Vivid dreamers beware." - The Reviews Hub
"A darkly creepy one-woman play with overtones of Edgar Allan Poe...It’s the creepy crawlies in Sharon’s psyche that create the goosebumps; Aaron Mark’s words and Alison Fraser’s acting are all the special effects you need to crawl in there with them." - The Broadway Blog
Photo credit: Maria Baranova
