On SEAN GILL'S FICTION

"Sean Gill’s 'Dignity and Urgency in Edinburgh and London' is a story that is timeless in its evocation of a character trapped between ruin and stasis, and a story that speaks directly to our time: it brings us the news of an individual (who stands for the millions living alongside him) and of the personal tragedies of the powerless, whose lives have become at best an afterthought in the decisions made for them by the powerful and the impersonal. Anthony Nibley/Beefeater Bill is forced to suffer and somehow to survive, with dignity and urgency, within a 'magnifcent history blotted with greedy trimmings.' Sean Gill has written an urgently necessary story, creating a character to enact the suffering of so many, and also granting him the dignity he deserves but has been otherwise stripped of and denied—and neither this character nor his story can be forgotten."

–Laura Kasischke, writer of Suspicious River and White Bird in a Blizzard, Guggenheim Fellow, and National Book Critics Circle Award winner

 

"Sean Gill's 'You Have Now Eaten Thirty-Four Spiders' conjures an entire world with economy and verbal wit..."

–Charles Yu, writer: How to Live Safely in a Science Fictional Universe, HBO's Westworld, winner of the Sherwood Anderson Award

 

"I couldn’t stop thinking about it. I admire the story for so many reasons: the characters are complicated and nuanced, the prose is tight and lyrical, and the author explores complicated moral questions in a way that feels fresh, intelligent and never didactic. This is a gorgeous story by a writer with talent in spades."

–Molly Antopol, author of The UnAmericans and National Book Award nominee on Sean Gill's "Beyond the Terminus, Beyond"

 

"Sean Gill’s excellent 'For Want of a Better Word' begins with a clever premise—a lab assistant inventing words for an experiment in artificial intelligence—and then does ingenious things with tone and timespan to make that premise far more than merely clever. The result is a surprising, touching, funny, and bittersweet story about the ways being smart can help us, and the ways it can’t."

–Michael Griffith, author of Bibliophilia and Spikes, fiction editor of The Cincinnati Review

 

"Sean Gill briefly reflects on a moment of fatherhood in 'Danger Nut'... a piece that’s humorous and relatable"

–Katy Haas, New Pages

"Sean Gill brings some much-welcome humor in 'A Temporary Shelf-Life,' recounting the period of his life he spent in temp jobs to stay afloat"

–Katy Haas, New Pages

"Intriguingly weird and outlandish... deeply impress[ive]... a satisfyingly unsettling ending."

–Risingshadow Books on "The Movie," a story collected in Dream City Blues

 

 

On THE FILMS OF SEAN GILL

"An imaginative, experienced playwright/filmmaker...[with] apocalyptic vision."

-Tom Murrin, Papermag

 

"[Gill's films] are captivating, with a vision and creative flair very much their own. One of them is about the visions produced by Gill’s insomnia... they all play like 4 a.m. episodes of dreamy, sometimes sinister revelry, after the party is over but before the party clothes have been slipped off and left lying on the floor—midnight in the garden of young bohemians, with some good and some evil thrown in for the fun of it.  ...Beautifully photographed, two crisply black and white, brightly lit with sharp contrast, and the two others in hazy color with soft, blurred edges that made you want to touch everything in them.

Days later, I can recall specific images from each—streamers crisscrossing a ceiling from the vantage point of the floor; a woman lying on that floor who then begins slowly sliding across it while remaining stock still, pulled by unseen hands; more leering masked figures dancing in a kitchen; a pleasantly glazed Jilliane Gill making a martini without regard for how much fits in the tipsy glass."

-Olivia Jane Smith, New York Theater Review

 

"A stylistic tale, shot in black and white, [Sean Gill's The Everlasting Vintage] plays out like an H.P. Lovecraft or Edgar Allan Poe story... almost like a supernatural noir.  It's paced and handled in such a way as to induce an eerie, yet curious, mood, and it succeeds.  Spooky and strange."

-Mark Bell, Film Threat

 

"Really cool!"

-Direct-to-Video Connoisseur

 

On DREAMS OF THE CLOCKMAKER

 "Gill is the perfect ending to the trilogy of storytelling I experienced this week. ...there is something primitively human in listening and watching as a story unfolds, and if you are lucky enough to be in the presence of someone who is truly talented in this regard, allow yourself to imaginatively engage and enjoy the experience."

-Bess Rowen, The Huffington Post

 

"A dystopian metatheatrical fantasia"

-Time Out New York, who also named it a "Good Odds" pick of the week

 

On AENIGMA

"Aenigma, written by Sean Gill, is a brilliantly integrated piece, moving from live action, to impressions of video playback, to fantasy (or nightmare) cycles by way of key lighting and music changes which trigger the audience’s subterranean understanding without missing a beat.  ... Gill’s dips into the surreal are masterful, while surface dialogue, humor and character quirks seem perfectly natural and coexistent as well.

Jillaine Gill, the playwright’s sister and frequent collaborator, gives a remarkable performance ...if this work is any indication, the Gill siblings as a brother-sister team could rival other talented relations known as Gyllenhaal, Arquette, or even demented Osmonds. Adding their own brand of wonderful sickness, of course."

-Dana Lang, Off-Off Online

 

"Macabre...unpredictable...perverse...a parody of an original that has never existed"

-Staff, OffOffOff

 

"More ambiguous than Michael Jackson's last music video"

-Aaron Riccio, Show Showdown

 

"[Sean Gill] shows a savvy awareness of our stock skepticism, focusing instead on how a story is told...  Aenigma (written by Sean Gill) plunges us into an entirely different universe, this one of David Lynch extraction. Bizarre non-sequiturs, sexy dancing, fuzzy memories of the night before, an incriminating videotape, an alluring stranger with dark powers—they're all here in madcap form. Key events and relationships among characters are thrown out haphazardly; putting together the puzzle is part of the fun."

-Megin Jiminez, Nytheatre.com

 

"This strange tale about Diana (Jillaine Gill) and Charlotte (Elizabeth Stewart), two sisters who are trying to find backers for their children's show, quickly changes into a psychosexual thriller about blackmail, murder, magic, and the universe that exists just beyond our realm of consciousness...  a fascinating evening of theatre. You might come out of it scratching your head, but even so, you will come out of it entertained."

-Byrne Harrison, StageBuzz

 

On STAGE BLOOD IS NEVER ENOUGH

 

"Burlesque and 80s horror meet at last!"

-Time Out New York

 

"Like a 1980s Judith Krantz bestseller getting the Wes Craven treatment."

-Patricia Contino, Flavorpill

 

"A romping good time."

-David Beck, Examiner.com

 

On GO-GO KILLERS!

(also named an Editor's Pick by Go! Magazine, a "Homo Must" by HX Magazine, and was featured in the prestigious LaMaMa Moves! Dance Festival)

 

"Sean Gill's Go-Go Killers! are perfectly synchronized amazonian street toughs (the appropriately named rival gangs are the nasty Furies and the big-haired Gorgons) speaking in perfect B-movie dialogue. Likewise, the ladies' motivation for killing the rich in the name of their lycra-clad Queen is pure Grindhouse....High-heeled boots, fishnets, glitter, and surfer music mean business — and never go out of style."

-Patricia Contino, Flavorpill

 

"In Sean Gill’s Go-Go Killers!, we find ourselves in a New York City of the future, a post-apocalyptic landscape (both financial and environmental) into which stomp a legion of rogue go-go chicks, who have created an underworld of their own, in response to the wealthy white male-dominated society which rules them. At once retro and futuristic (like comic books of the 1950s), Rachel Klein’s proficient direction and skilled choreography channel the cult films of Russ Meyer, complete with cinematic transitions, mod costumes and make-up, and a 1960s-era surf music soundtrack. This is the latest Gill/Klein collaboration, and again, their styles and sensibilities seem to blend together perfectly...  The dialogue is snappy and amusing. Gill’s script sounds equally stylized, even with hints of more emotional depth for the characters than one might suspect.  These multi-chorus assemblages are also evocative of the cult film genre and are fun to watch as they layer and/or unfold from every direction... So what are you waiting for, Pussycat? Go-go!"

–Dana Lang, Off-Off Online

 

"The best of the B-movie genre"

-Heidi Patalano, Metro Newspaper

 

"Go-Go it is a Killer, wow, just love it!"

-Kitten Natividad (Beneath the Valley of the Ultra-Vixens, Airplane!)

 

"Playwright Sean Gill's dialogue is perfect and funny, betraying a strong love of the kind of films that inspired the script. He’s created some wonderful characters, and set up a world in which it would be fun to spend some time...the cast is also a diverse bunch – in age, race, and body type – and it’s nice to see the performers in this mixed group all get to be sexy, smart, and funny, using and subverting stereotypes simultaneously to wonderful effect... if you’re looking for powerful, well-dressed ladies, wry social commentary, and kitschy, B-movie inspired fun, get yourself to the Sage Theater in NYC on Friday or Saturday night!"

-Teresa Jusino, Pinkraygun

 

"Playwright Sean Gill chooses the lens of 1960s girlsploitation cinema through which to filter his vision of the not-so-distant future, complete with comic book-y conversation, fist-to-face fight sequences and a sparkling series of coquettishly choreographed scene transitions. With all of this and a cast of stunning sexpots in hot pants and knee-high boots, Killers succeeds in creating a fun and flirty cosmos made only more compelling with a small dose of danger.  ...If you're looking for an excuse to dust of your glittery go-go boots, Go-Go see Killers."

-Kitty Lindsay, Theater is Easy

 

"For most of the show I was either slack-jawed in disbelief or doubled over in giddy giggles."

-Mark Peikert, New York Press

 

"Sean Gill’s script has an excellent spine, mixing elements of Russ Meyers’ Faster Pussycat Kill Kill with the homicidal dystopia of Paul Bartel’s Death Race 2000...  If it came down to a choice between this show and a Chekhov play, I would gladly choose The Go-Go Killers. I’d shout it from any mountaintop."

-Trav S.D., Travalanche

 

"An extravaganza of dancing, fighting, and male emasculation...  Let the class warfare man-bashing begin, and dig that crazy beat.  High energy, groovy “boots-were-made-for-walking” retro charm...  More Roger Corman than Russ Meyer, it might sound like a guilty pleasure, but it is really more of a groovy nostalgia trip."

–Joe Bendel, J.B. Spins

 

On SYMPHONY OF SHADOWS (featuring sound design and a story co-written by Sean Gill)

"A lively and fantastical depiction of how we hide from our own issues, pushing them down in our daily lives until they have no other choice but to come after us in the night...  one of Symphony's greatest strengths  is its ability to depict a setting that's no so much unlike ours, yet one that's just cloudy enough to play with the performance's levels of reality...  a charming commentary on the pressures we hide from every day in our world– and the ones we discover with our head on the pillow."

-Eric Sundermann, The Village Voice

 

"The world that the dancers craft is visually sumptuous. Klein's staging fills the theater from floor to ceiling, and each of the fantasy sequences allows a different dancer to perform a virtuosic set piece in one of many worlds sensuously imagined..."

-Jason Fitzgerald, Backstage

 

"The production is an extravaganza of ballet, aerialists, musicians, surreal costumes, acrobats, burlesque and dancers telling a dark, but beautiful story...The eerie violin concerto is a sensuous score to this seamless, elaborate production.  Creator Rachel Klein started with a concept of the horrors of sleep paralysis.  She worked with co-story writer Sean Gill on how to portray the different nightmares... If you are in NYC the next few weeks, definitely make the time to enjoy this show!"

-Staff, Courtesan Macabre

 

"Every so often these "I've seen it all” eyes see something that flabbergasts me...so mark this on your calendar, get a babysitter, empty the cookie jar, and if necessary kick the reluctant lover to the curb and attend the world premiere!"

-Steve Lewis, BlackBook

 

"[SYMPHONY OF SHADOWS] depicts two familiar worlds– the workplace and dreams– only this symphony in shadows is far more exhilarating and terrifying than the norm or even Freud... Klein's Sleeper and her pesky Shadows move gracefully through the realms of modern dance, burlesque, gymnastics, and Romantic-era ballet.  The erotic dreams may be too much for the delicate heroine, but they are stunning stage pictures that are a genuine and refreshing reality."

-Patricia Contino, Flavorpill

 

"A show that will stay with me for years to come! One of the best performance pieces I have seen...The extremely talented cast of performers engulfed the audience with their artistry."

-Adam Rothenberg, Call Me Adam

 

"Eye-catching and exciting, with a very wide range of performance styles... spider women will swing over the stage, ballerinas dance en pointe, and busty burlesque queens strut in skimpy outfits...  the cast (A whopping 25 of ‘em) is quite talented and athletic."

-Charles Battersby, Theater for Nerds

 

"Rigorous and dangerous... I could fully relate to the experience of dreading sleep... the company of dancers, aerial acrobats, clowns, and contortionists take on many roles and costumes, each one more arresting than the last."

-Libby Emmons, The New York Theater Review

 

"Dive deep into the Bowery for this sexy, macabre performance... don't miss this one!"

-Staff, New York Nearsay

 

On THE TRAGEDY OF MARIA MACABRE (featuring sound design and a story co-written by Sean Gill)

 

"We are truly hypnotized until the end, wondering where the storytellers are taking us and questioning if there ever is an ending to the menagerie of characters and situations...  Klein and collaborator Sean Gill put together a superb sampling of music...to complete the dark and twisted world that Klein has created."

-Mary Beth Smith, Nytheatre.com

 

"A creepy, kaleidoscopic fun house full of menace, darkness, and a fair share of humor...  Although The Tragedy of Maria Macabre has no dialogue, it tells many marvelous stories."

-Byrne Harrison, StageBuzz

 

"This dance opus, which features a story by Klein with Sean Gill, and utilizes a mix of musical styles...  The aforementioned Sean Gill provides topnotch sound design... [Rachel Klein and her collaborators] should congratulate themselves merely for the impressive act of infusing today's downtown scene with a fresh new rush of blood in every sense of the word."

-Andrew Martin, NiteLifeExchange

 

"The audience is arrested and seduced by a sequined circus of rigor morticized dancers and costume acrobatics... Music lovers will be excited about Sean Gill's sound design."

-Jody Christopherson, New York Theater Review

 

"Of course it’s always better to watch someone else experience madness and murder than to experience it yourself, and that’s why we go to the theater! We play a game of 'what if' when we sit in the dark and watch as a little girl goes to Hell – literally. And that is why The Tragedy of Maria Macabre is so much fun.  ...The music is remixed by Sean Gill into a catchier, more upbeat version of Night on Bald Mountain."

-W. Kenton, Cultural Capitol

 

On THE DEAD DREAM MACHINE (featuring sound design and video art direction by Sean Gill, written by Jake Thomas, and directed by Rachel Klein)

(also named a "Weekend Pick" during a featured segment on NY1, a "Good Odds Pick" by Time Out New York, and a "Critic's Pick" by New York Magazine)

 

"The Dead Dream Machine is a thoroughly entertaining compendium of dark skits ranging from a teenage horror spoof to a hilariously foul-mouthed puppet show to gothic burlesque ballets and aerialists... [Sean Gill's] creepy projections on an old red velvet curtain complete the Silencio-scene-in-Mulholland-Drive vibe."

 –John Peacock, Flavorpill

 

"A boundary-dissolving horror show, which includes magic, puppetry, aerialism and live song and dance... the imaginative Rachel Klein directs and choreographs."

–Time Out New York

 

"In this very strange play, a mad scientist has built a machine that extracts dreams from a young woman’s brain. At the finale every night, a crew of alt-venue stars—drag queens, born-to-showbiz kids, burlesque artists— all join in on a goth performance of a Nick Cave tune."

–New York Magazine

 

"The show stars various luminaries from the alternative stages of New York City... The whole shebang is directed and choreographed by the amazing Rachel Klein... this is amazing. You must go."

–Steve Lewis, Black Book Magazine

 

"...this Brooklyn-based show pumps the horror genre through a mad-scientist’s dream-extracting device, spinning out musical numbers, a zombie dance, aerialists, puppetry and assorted luminaries from the City’s alternative stages – all profoundly nightmarish."

–Linda Sheridan, City Guide- New York City

 

"New York City has no shortage of Halloween attractions...but if you are looking for more high-brow entertainment– with a decidedly anti-Wall Street bent– head to Brooklyn for Dead Dream Machine.  This off- off- off- Broadway show features a talented cast and scenes that range from hysterical to bizarre... a uniquely Brooklyn production that combines elements of burlesque, acrobatics, puppetry and bondage. ... so hysterical, offbeat and downright bizarre [some segments] played over and over in my mind throughout the weekend.  ...You’ll feel trendy just for attending this show."

–Leslie Koch, Downtown Traveler

"The campy horror show is thoroughly enjoyable, and the variety approximates the unsettling, kaleidoscopic nature of our dreams... It is quick and humorous throughout, gothically campy, well-acted, and feels as unsettling as a half-remembered dream."

–Robin Tripp, Bushwick Daily

 

"I had the pleasure of trekking out to East Williamsburg (Bushwick) NY last night to experience the new production, The Dead Dream Machine... It was disturbing and made you squirm... [director Rachel Klein] mixes style and sensuality into her visual storytelling."

–Mariana Leung, Courtesan Macabre

 

"I was lucky enough to catch a press preview of ...the incredible Dead Dream Machine... and it RULES. Go!"

–Brooklyn Spaces

 

"Consistently entertaining. ...a series of both horrifying and comedic skits.  ...the ensemble of The Dead Dream Machine was remarkable.  ...I enjoyed living the nightmares produced by the The Dead Dream Machine."

–Theresa Perkins, My Entertainment World

 

"... the best parts of old school horror movies [are] the comedy, and when Machine connected to that, it was gold... with Halloween coming up it is just the right kind of show to get you into the spooky spirit!"

–Broadway Spotted

 

On PRINCES OF DARKNESS (featuring sound design by Sean Gill, written and performed by Bill Connington, directed by Rachel Klein)

 

"Sean Gill's sound design is excellent."

-Staff, Broadway After Dark

 

"Before PRINCES OF DARKNESS  (written and performed by Bill Connington) even begins, there’s an ambiance created by sound designer Sean Gill that does its best to set a tone of creepy nervousness. Resonating within the small theatre, which is completely draped in black cloth, is the kind of music reserved for the scenes in movies that have the most startling effect – a subtle drop of blood oozing down a table, a shadow crossing a deserted hallway. Let yourself get pulled too deeply into the sounds and you’ll find that you’ll jump when the seat behind you thuds down."

-Stephen and Karen Tortora-Lee, The Happiest Medium

 

"...the creepiest aspect of Darkness might be Sean Gill’s unsettling audio effects."

-Joe Bendel, J.B. Spins