MODERATION, the Hope | London

Available at Broadway Play Publishing

Assessors’ Choice
– The Offies

Nomination: New Writing (Play)
– Fringe Theatre Awards

“Moderation is a wake-up call, illustrating the personal and political consequences of an unmoderated, addictive digital landscape. Its timing is impeccable, especially as social media gurus have recently abandoned content moderation… It holds a mirror up to us all, challenges us, and never once lets us off the hook.”
– Everything Theatre ★★★★★

“The action takes place in a pre-Orwellian corporate world, where social media content moderators trawl through conspiracy theories, anti-semitic rants, and snuff films … Like a Beckettian pair, they trudge through their dismal lot while still finding room for mundane conversation and the odd dad joke during their strictly-timed break periods. It’s a very current work in the age of disinformation and AI … Kautzman’s interest in the psyche within this world make[s] for … a thrilling piece of palm-sweat-inducing theatre.”
– A Young(ish) Perspective ★★★★

“Kautzman’s searingly topical new play, MODERATION is the darkest of dark comedies. It is unmistakably an American work, but its themes resonate across the world, just as the actions of the techbro oligarchs of Silicon Valley do … This is a tightly written gem of a play. Intelligent and engrossing on social media, it is equally astute on the politics of office life and what works when climbing the company ladder. Kautzman knows about the importance of human relationships, and conversely, the dire consequences of their absence … at once horrific, tragic and darkly comedic.”
– The Peg ★★★★

“A perceptive look at the gig economy, the play is relatable to many… An engaging and lively piece of theatre: who knew a windowless basement office could be so fascinating?”
– LondonTheatre1 ★★★★

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

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.