←Recommendations of Layers, or "The Casserole Play"

Premiere Stages, the professional Equity theatre company in residence at Kean University, is pleased to recognize Layers, or “The Casserole Play” as a Semi-Finalist for the 2025 Premiere Play Festival. Layers rose through a competitive selection process conducted by Premiere staff and a panel of outside theatre professionals to become one of 78 Semi-Finalists out of 805 submissions. The panel was impressed by the play’s genuine humor and satire. Our congratulations and thanks to Scott.

I needed a laugh, and this tasty comedy, which "layers" history, melodrama, and investigative journalism, hit the spot! This is the type of play you can't help but quote out loud to the unfortunate, disinterested people who are in the room! It's raucously hilarious, delightfully melodramatic, dazzlingly theatrical, and moves at a breakneck pace! It's not JUST silly, however - which, frankly, would have been enough. It has a deeper message (LAYERS!) about why the REAL truth matters! BRAVO!

Scott C. Sickles’ “LAYERS, OR ‘THE CASSEROLE PLAY’” is a theatrical gem. The dialogue is sharp and witty, capturing the essence of 1886 New Hampshire with authenticity and a modern twist. Characters are richly drawn, offering a diverse cast the chance to shine in multiple roles. The concept—tracing the casserole’s history through a journalist’s investigation—is both innovative and engaging, serving up a hearty blend of humor, history, and heart. A delightful, layered piece of theatre.

Warning: do not read this play while eating.
That's not to suggest there's anything viscerally upsetting in "Layers". But it DOES have many, many moments where even the reading of a line will cause an immediate spit-take and well, there goes whatever you were chewing.

Scott Sickles tells a lovely, nuanced (and did I mention funny? It's also really funny) tale about history and the ways that history is remembered. As the title suggests,both the story and the characters are layered, even as they wear many hats (literally and figuratively).

"Layers, or 'The Casserole Play'" is cooked to perfection.

How do you make a docudrama about the history and development of the casserole interesting, compelling, and hilarious? Why, you hand the task of writing it to Scott Sickles, of course! LAYERS, or “The Casserole Play” sees its three central players wearing a variety of hats and adopting a variety of voices, and the result is a layered, inventive, and surprisingly informative feast that will have audiences clamoring for seconds.

This is a fantastic fever dream of a play, a wild ride from start to finish - and the fact that it’s about the invention of the casserole makes the feat all the more remarkable! This would be an evening of pure joy at the theater. I love this.

LAYERS, OR "THE CASSEROLE PLAY" is a play with many layers, and many twists and turns. It is alternatingly hysterical, poignant, ridiculous, and lovely. This is a play that engages with it's source material in such a fun and vivid way, and encourages audiences to engage with it as well. It's the sort of play that is instantly quotable and will have audiences recalling moments for a long time afterwards. Scott Sickles has gotten to the bottom of the Casserole dish and dish and I love it!

BRAVO! HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!

Delightful! Adorable! Sickles plays with the magic of the theater in a way very much reminiscent of Steven G. Martin's BENNY V. (very much a compliment) as three performers unearth the true origins of the casserole and its mysterious inventor, Elmire Jolicoeur, COMPLETE WORKS OF WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE, ABRIDGED style. Resource book enthusiasts, in particular, will find much to be turned on in LAYERS!
It's smart, it's funny, it's sexy, it's laugh-out-loud cryingly funny and movingly heartfelt - no surprise from a writer of Sickles' caliber, but here he truly outdoes himself. Quite possibly his magnum opus amongst magnum opi.