All New People

by Zach Braff

"All New People" is a slick, lively and contemporary comedy written by award-winning screenwriter and well-known actor Zach Braff.

The dead of winter, Long Beach Island, New Jersey, Charlie, has hit rock bottom. Away from the rest of the world, this perfect escape is interrupted by a motley parade of misfits who show up and change his plans. A hired beauty, a fireman, and an eccentric British real estate agent desperately trying to stay in the country all suddenly find themselves tangled together in a beach house where the mood is anything but sunny.

This pithy piece portrays a scenario of attempted suicide with mordant humour, where a basis of social alienation leads to unexpected connections. The richly-drawn characters are quick-witted and narcissistic yet self-aware and the dialogue is fluid and witty.

"All New People" is centred around a clever concept which works as a catalyst for both angst-fuelled scrutiny and morbid humour.

Genres: Plays, Theatre, Fiction

59 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2012

Reviews

[Liralen · Rating 3 out of 5]

A rental agent, a firefighter, and an escort walk into a room and find a man trying to hang himself.

Start of a bad joke, or start of an odd duck of a play?

I'm not familiar with Braff's acting, though I understand that he's been in some very popular movies and shows. The dialogue here feels sort of...aggressively quippy? And I'm finding that I have very little else to say about the play.

Oh, except 'hired beauty' (per the book description) is a euphemism for 'escort' that I haven't heard before.

[Bryan Cebulski]

implausible beyond measure, riddled with slurs, emotionally awkward in true braffian fashion, but occasionally it wins you over with a charming beat or chuckle-worthy line of dialogue

[Shana · Rating 5 out of 5]

Every time I see something by Zach Braff I feel like he gets me a bit. I feel like this started off kind of slow, but it picked up in the middle and got a lot better as more people started to show up.

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some interesting ideas, but supposed to be 3/4 characters in their 30s, kinda established in life, all four feel like petulant early 20s kids. Was thinking of producing this play in 2021, but sadly won’t work for the cast I wanted.

[Lisa · Rating 1 out of 5]

I retired from a 26-year career in air traffic control. That’s not how air traffic control works. Seriously. Epic fail. 😑

[Emily · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love Zach Braff and loved this play!

[rachel jayn · Rating 4 out of 5]

I always enjoy Zach Braff’s work, read this for a college audition hahahaha. I loved it!

[Dave]

I saw the play performed and wanted to read the text. Had I known more of the plot before attending, I might not have chosen to see it on my birthday.

I would not call All New People a dark comedy. It is more accurately described as a light comedy with very dark characters. The back story of the characters is revealed through a series of short film clips inserted into the action of the play. These are troubled people with dark, in some cases tragic, pasts. The play has my favorite type of ending for stories of this type. It is not tragic but neither is anyone living happily ever after.

“All New People” is not a great play. Sometimes the humor comes from jokes that seem to be painted on the surface of the play rather than arising from the action within it. The revelation of the details of Emma’s back story near the end of the play are presented without sufficient development so it almost feels like some of her story was added for shock value. That said, it is a very good ‘first’ play from an extremely talented source. It is a comedy that is funny and the characters are interesting and unfamiliar. Hard to go wrong with that combination

[Cameron · Rating 1 out of 5]

I grew up on Long Beach Island, the nominal setting for Zach Braff's brief, largely unsatisfying All New People, and I could easily produce a list of inaccuracies of Braff's LBI. But who would want to read that? Anyway, I doubt Braff was striving for hyper-realism; his LBI could really be any wealthy shore town where yuppie millionaires build garish beach houses that they ironically call "cottages" or "bungalows". One such house is the setting for Braff's play, which basically boils down to sixty pages of the worst people ever sitting around talking about their awful lives. No stakes are ever really established, and despite a line of snappy dialogue here and there, the text is as bland as it is vapid. Perhaps on stage, with good actors, this could pass for mildly entertaining; on the page, it's DOA.

[Angela · Rating 4 out of 5]

Zach Braff is one of my favorite writers and I think I don't see enough from him. I enjoyed this play. His characters I felt were well-developed without obnoxiously giving their entire back-story through dialog. I'd love to see it live because there are some stage directions about scrims projecting videos and it was hard to imagine that in my head technically. And in normal Zach Braff fashion it left you hanging a bit at the end. He doesn't tie things up with a pretty bow and say "and they all lived happily ever after." He lets it linger like real life. Just like the end of his movie Garden State. I hope a theatre puts this up again soon.

[Dave Logghe · Rating 5 out of 5]

It begins with an interrupted suicide attempt. It only gets funnier from there. And more irreverent. This play crosses the line between dark comedy and honest angst repeatedly, and remains genuine throughout. The characters start off a bit cardboard-cutout, but then you begin to see the third dimension to each of them. This is one of those few plays that I read and immediately wanted to both direct and act in. Great stuff.

[Cammylamb · Rating 3 out of 5]

Four misfits hold their "breakfast club" in a beach house mirroring purgatory.

I laughed out loud multiple times. The characters were all a lot of fun.

The "deeper" parts didn't work as well for me as the comedy, but I really enjoyed the read.

I would recommend to anyone with a love for dark comedy.

[Teagan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This play was very brief and funny and thought-provoking at the same time. If you're looking for an hour's worth of laughing (out loud!!!), then I suggest you give this play a chance. Also, it's written by Zach Braff (as if you needed another incentive to read it)! I only hope that I will someday be able to see it at a live performance.

[мєℓ · Rating 5 out of 5]

I saw the play in London and it made me buy the little book. The 4 characters are totally different which make the play....whole.

I loved it. And most of all this is Zach Braff f***** hell! :) BIG FAN

[Meghan · Rating 2 out of 5]

Recommended by Elyse

[Emily · Rating 4 out of 5]

This reads very much like Garden State II, which is not to say that it isn't still hilarious and heart-rending at the same time. It would have been interesting to see it actually performed.

[Marion · Rating 4 out of 5]

I actually saw the play in London. But it was so good and funny that I decided to buy the play. I haven't read it yet though. But as I said, the live play was amazing.