Books by Matt Lyle

In 1692, as the Salem Witch Trials rage in nearby Salem, the residents of Peabody, Massachusetts are going through their own crucible, and they are just, like, really sick of crucibles. The surprising election of the boorish lout Dunning Kruger to be the local reverend has thrown the town into turmoil and pitted the townsfolk against each other like never before in the history of the New World, and that's saying something because the history of the New World is really messed up. Ezekiel Farmer and his wife Verity must reconcile their differences (she voted for Kruger, he for the more experienced female challenger, Goody Constant Bending) and somehow find a way to resist the ugly tide that threatens them all. TOO MANY CRUCIBLES is an extremely unsanctioned companion piece to Miller's classic THE CRUCIBLE that proves some witch hunts turn up witches.

"BIG SCARY ANIMALS sets its sights on the idea that we don't know how to talk about our differences, tackling it with intelligence and humor. Lyle makes his point that words do matter and we should pay more attention to them; but he also effectively satirizes how overly sensitive we can be. … it provides something sorely needed: Laughter. Lots of it. As he's proven time and time again, Lyle has impeccable timing with a punchline or comic situation." Mark Lowry, TheatreJones "Lyle toys with your expectations and loyalties and forces the audience to see The Other in a sympathetic (or critical) light, and does so through one of the densest string of laugh-out-loud comedies you'll ever see. …this smart, 85-minute comedy created a sense of community that is, at its heart, the goal of all theater." Arnold Wayne Jones, Dallas Voice "The show has a handful of serious moments, but the most thoughtful among these is the concept that no matter how different people think they are, from food to decorating to political and religious opinions, there is common ground and it may be found in the place where we laugh together." Nancy Churnin, Dallas Morning News "…genuinely, undeniably, wonderfully funny…character-based, infinitely empathetic comedy." Christopher Soden, Sharp Critic

"The vast reservoir of pop culture Lyle mines to create dialogue that is both realistic and stylized reveals a kind of Aspergery love of language that's hard to overpraise. The play isn't laden with jokes so much as a way of saying things with hilarious understatement. You may want to see it twice just to hear all the lines you missed the first time."Arnold Wayne Jones, Dallas Voice "It could have been enough for Lyle to set the entire play at this awkward, weird, and painfully honest barbecue; he still would have ended up with an engaging lark that's sitcom-funny. But then he decides to end the world."Lyndsey Wilson, D Magazine "BARBECUE APOCALYPSE is a tasty nine-layer dip of comedy commentary about the slippery matters of marriage, adult friendships and career failure (real or perceived)."Elaine Liner, Dallas Observer "A good comedy makes you laugh. A really good one makes you think. BARBECUE APOCALYPSE is a really good comedy."Nancy Churnin, Dallas Morning News "A hilarious frenzy of existential angst."Martha Heimberg, TheaterJones.com "BARBECUE APOCALYPSE suggests, in no uncertain terms, that these thoroughly average Americans were far more savage when they were sipping mango margaritas and failing to make small talk as compared to a year later when their new hobbies include devouring raccoons and threatening to stab electronic devices, among other acts defined as depraved by current standards of decorum."Kevin Greene, Chicago Stage Standard