Circumference of a Squirrel
An inner-tube, a bagel, a donut, a lifesaver, a holiday wreath, a tire-swing, a cycle of abuse: circles—both real and figurative—whirl out-of-control in this one-man show. And, at the center of them all, sits a tiny squirrel. Orbiting that squirrel is Chester, a self- described “rondentophobe” who spins the outlandish, funny, and bruising tale of growing up with a father who developed a rabid hatred for squirrels—a hatred that eventually infected every aspect of his and his son’s life. Pursued by memories of his intolerant father and the legacy of bigotry, Chester is pulled into the black-hole that is at the center of his own life where he encounters the mistakes, the fears, the guilt and the humanity that make him whole again.
Read Sample
CHESTER:
I have a peculiar relationship with squirrels, a negative fascination—like auto-wrecks on the highway—I’m compelled and repelled by their unpredictable behavior, their squirrely charms. Innocent, but vicious.
(He pulls out a retractable pointer, opens it up, and points to imaginary charts in the inner-tube, or perhaps he has some real charts or slides.)
Fact: a squirrel’s teeth grow continuously through the rodent’s six-year life span. The incisors alone grow 6 inches per year, but stay short due to constant wear. Six inches per year. A foot every two years. That means if a squirrel never used its teeth, it would have incisors three feet long. I am haunted by these three foot squirrel teeth. Rodentophobia is what I call it.
(He puts pointer away.)
And yet despite my condition, yesterday I sat a mere 10 feet from this squirrel—riveted and repulsed—and watched as it tried to carry the bagel. It’d struggle a little way up the trunk of the tree, come down, drop the bagel, re-sink its razor teeth into the boiled dough, and try again. Always it would try again. Determined to figure out how to carry the weight....
Cast Requirements
1 man
Set Description
A Chair and an Inner-Tube
Honors
- Austin Critics Table, "Best Production of A Drama"
- Austin Critics Table, "Outstanding Original Script"
Press
“Painful memories, tempered by bittersweet rushes of levity and a hint of redemptive power, fill the 90 exhilarating minutes of John Walch’s new play Circumference of a Squirrel.”—New York Times
Production and Development History
Productions:
- Greenhouse Theatre, January 2017, Chicago, IL
- Urban Stages, NYC (Off-Broadway)
- Center Theatre (Mark Taper Forum), Los Angeles, CA
- Zachary Scott Theatre Center, Austin, TX
- Kitchen Dog Theater, Dallas, TX;
- Playwrights Theatre of New Jersey, Madison, NJ;
- New Jersey Repertory, Long Branch, NJ;
- Phoenix Theatre, Indianapolis, IN;
- Charter Theatre, Washington, DC;
- Craig and Company, San Diego, CA;
- No Strings Theatre Company, Las Cruces, NM;
- Bastrop Opera House, Bastrop, TX;
- Riverside Theatre, Vero Beach, FL;
- Metro Theatre, Minneapolis, MN;
- Shadowland Theatre, Ellenville, NY;
- Aurora Theatre, Atlanta, GA;
- Barter Theatre