The Houseguest by Amparo Dávila, translated by Audrey Harris & Matthew Gleeson, is a collection of stories so haunting and so tinged with the surreal that it reminds the reader of the pleasure of being scared. Dávila, whose stories feel both timeless and timely, accomplishes this distress by blending well-known horror tropes with real-world details.
Karen E. Bender is the award-winning author of Refund, A Town of Empty Rooms, and Like Normal People. Her latest work, The New Order, is a collection of highly political short stories that discuss tragedy, isolation, and terror. The New Order dives headfirst into the current cultural milieu by addressing sexual assault, gun violence, the perils of social media, and the life of Jewish Americans.
Cast of Characters:
REMI #1, 22, male, an alcoholic writer. REMI #1 should not be wearing shoes.
REMI #2, 22, male, an alcoholic writer. REMI #2 should wear a ridiculously large black beret.
REMI #3, 22, male, an alcoholic writer. REMI #3 should carry an outrageously pretentious pipe and an enormous lighter.
REMI #4, 22, male, an alcoholic writer. REMI #4 should not exist.
All four characters should wear matching nametags without numbers throughout the play. All four characters should also be holding amber bottles.
Time and Place: Nowhere in no place. Never in the present.