Theatre Kids

A True Tale of Off-Off Broadway

By: John DeVore

Narrated by: Brian Holden

Friendship. Grief. Jazz hands.

In 2004, in a small, windowless theater in then-desolate Williamsburg, Brooklyn, an eccentric family of broke art-school survivors staged an experimental, four-hour adaptation of William Faulkner’s novel As I Lay Dying inside an enormous wooden coffin that could barely fit the cast, much less an audience.

The production’s cast and crew—including its sweetly monomaniacal director—poured their hearts and paychecks into a messy spectacle doomed to fail by any conventional measure. It ran for only eight performances. The reviews were tepid. Fewer than one hundred people saw it. But to emotionally messy hack magazine editor John DeVore, cast at the last minute in a bit part, it was a safe space to hide out and attempt sobering up following a devastating loss.

An unforgettable ode to the ephemeral, chaotic magic of the theatre and the weirdos who bring it to life, Theatre Kids is DeVore’s buoyant, irreverent, and ultimately moving account of outsize ambition and dashed hopes in post-9/11, pre-iPhone New York City. Sharply observed and bursting with hilarious razzle-dazzle, it will resonate with anyone who has ever, perhaps against their better judgment, tried to bring something beautiful into the world without regard for riches or fame.

©2024 John DeVore (P)2024 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved.

Critic reviews

“[Holden]’s amused tone and playfully self-deprecating comments are narrated with candor and appropriate snarkiness. He portrays theater kids (TKs) as oddball individuals who joined the drama club in high school and college, and who kept ‘playing’ long after graduation.… The author provides an insider's look at rehearsals, productions, catastrophes, and successes, as well as his frank assessment of his own abilities or lack thereof, his overfondness for alcohol and drugs, and the feeling of family engendered by belonging to a group of like-minded weirdos. As narrator, Holden offers an engaging listening experience that will be of particular interest to those who are, or once were, TKs.” —AudioFile Magazine

“A wry and boisterous account… Electric prose elevates this homage to an enduring art form.” —Publishers Weekly

"For those of us lucky to call John DeVore a friend, the skill and warmth with which he’s written Theatre Kids comes as no surprise. If you should not be in the elect group, however, the next best thing would be to read this book. There’s something funny, moving, surprising, or trenchant on every page. Often there’s all of these at once. Theatre Kids is a lemon tart made by someone who loves you, sweet and light and sharp and substantial all at once." —Isaac Butler, author of The Method: How the Twentieth Century Learned to Act

Woke Up The Theater Kid Inside Me

I just finished listening to Theatre Kids, narrated by Brian Holden, and I want to thank John Devore for this heartfelt, nostalgic journey. This book woke up the theater kid inside me. Devore’s memoir is a testament to the magic and camaraderie of the off off scene. Highly recommended for anyone who came of age on the boards.