“It’s Samuel Beckett meets Larry King in this new play
by CJ Hopkins. When an expert on terrorism appears on a T V talk show, the
conversation becomes a perverse satirical rant on the increasing alienation of
the individual in the modern world.... A dark satire that playfully mocks the
essential absurdity of the talking-head culture...taking on big issues like the
loss of individualism and the looming apocalypse...smartly written…”
Atlanta Journal Constitution
“The audience never tunes out while watching THE
EXTREMISTS…. At first we sit back and laugh at the doublespeak as CJ Hopkins'
media satire takes potshots at some easy targets. By the end, we find ourselves
squirming as if we're the ones in the hot seat, mentally justifying our own
choices and behaviors.... After a stealthy first half, the production confronts
the viewers like it's a merciless Jon Stewart and we're a hapless Jim Cramer....
The play doesn't just target conservatives, but implies that the entire
political process is a corrupt means for national and global dominance.”
Creative Loafing (Atlanta)
“The word `insane’ is one of the most frequently heard
words on the stage ... It describes the evening very well.... THE EXTREMISTS
begins as harmless media satire, a conversation in which the host and the
invited expert toss empty phrases back and forth.... Hopkins builds a construct
of ideas out of their rhetoric, until everything revolves around one thing: What
is the truth for the good guys, and what is it for the bad guys? ...What is the
reality? ...Intellectual theater in the truest sense.”
Der Tagesspiegel (Berlin)
“A gripping satire, which spills into sinister
weirdness.”
Die Tageszeitung (Berlin)
originally produced by 7 Stages, English Theatre Berlin and PushPush Theater
2 M
I S B N 978-0-88145-441-3 $12.95
read the first scene or scenes on line