COYOTE, Nouveau 47 | Dallas

“… a ferocious writer for the ‘recession generation’ who hurls metaphor, alliteration and theatrical convention into a universe inhabited by the likes of Sam Shepard, John Milton and James Joyce with defiant abandon. Text isn’t just engaging and entertaining with Kautzman at the keyboard, and it is funny as all heck. It’s razor-sharp deadly while grounding in unexpected life reverence, honoring the intimate details that make ordinary existence anything but. But what would you expect from a history and philosophy major with an iconoclastic, literary bent and perverse social consciousness?

What seems at first like a simple buddy drama with a couple of harmless kooks in Stetsons soon shows itself as desert hell under El Cojote’s curse. Nobody is exactly what you expect (no spoilers from me). Ironically, the play’s only moral compass emerges from the boozy, twisted maw of the ‘crazy old F*** ‘racist who thinks his truck is an altar…”
– Critical Rant

DREAM OF PERFECT SLEEP, Finborough | London

Available at Broadway Play Publishing

“There is a feeling of raw truth about this play that is constantly absorbing.”
– What’s On Stage

“A funny, heartwarming and powerful story of hope and loss – as an elderly couple plan their last days on earth”
– Broadway World

“A play that seeks to tug at your heartstrings and not overburden you with guilt and scenes of familial dysfunction”
– Everything Theatre

“Palpable echoes of O’Neill.”
– The Guardian

“Witty, insightful.”
– Time Out

“An original insight into dementia.”
– Stage

“The story is moving and the questions Kautzman asks of death and aging are resounding.”
– Younger Theatre

“[Kautzman] tackles serious themes without ever being heavy-handed or too earnest.”
– Public Reviews

IF YOU START A FIRE [BE PREPARED TO BURN] | Detroit, NYC

Available at Broadway Play Publishing

“Like the reply-all taboo and the necessity of logging out of a public computer, the latest formative lesson our society is learning is that absolutely anything posted online can take on a life of its own. Playwright Kevin Kautzman phrases it better in the enticing title of his new internet-age sex comedy, IF YOU START A FIRE [BE PREPARED TO BURN] … this script has so much fun guiding its characters into a zany, last-ditch enterprise … The play’s emphatically contemporary context suits the immediacy of its premise. Lucy and Chris are a couple of textbook ninety-nine percenters, overeducated and underemployed in a crummy economy: She’s thanklessly waiting tables while toiling on an expensive MBA; he’s a college dropout whose service job affords them the barest health coverage. It’s a lamentable career picture for both, so for things to get worse merely adds insult to injury. And when the business world has no place for a couple of hungry, desirable youths, these two blaze their own trail that plays to their unique strengths — in this case, putting a technologically new spin on the oldest profession … Kautzman’s text is magnificent as he submerges these two characters robbed of forethought into a trajectory of pure discovery … Kautzman ensures that the weirder the requests get, the funnier the interactions become, which helps to defuse the mounting tension of the second act: as their business grows exponentially, Lucy and Chris grapple with the changes in their relationship when sex becomes work, with morphing demands on their privacy and consent, and with the surprising consequences of success … [a] cutting-edge, boundary-pushing comedy.”
– roguecritic.com

IRIS, Red Eye | Minneapolis

“Best Playwriting, 2010 Year in Review”
– Lavender Magazine

“IRIS is based upon the Greek legend of Iphigenia, a tale told in the plays of Aeschylus and Euripides. Kautzman gives it a modern makeover, and it gets the Red Eye treatment in an intriguing and well-executed staging, with the dean of Twin Cities experimental theater companies mixing in plenty of movement and music.”
– Pioneer Press

MODERATION, Spooky Action Zoom Presentation | DC

moderationplay.com

“Seeing this play refined and fully-staged would be intriguing. It revels in ambiguity – including the ending – while the journey is lots of dark, comedic fun.”
– MD Theatre Guide

MONEY $HOT: LOOSE CHANGE | Web Series from IF YOU START A FIRE [BE PREPARED TO BURN]

“It’s a great mix of genuine and ridiculous… Money $hot: Loose Change is something fresh and exciting. I’m not exaggerating when I say I’ve never seen anything quite like this before. If you’re in the mood for something new or you’re a big fan of comedy, check out this new original series.”
– Starry Mag

THEN WAVES

At the Players Guild Theatre, Canton Ohio, covered by The Repository.