5M,4F. Full length (90 min), 15-year old Julie runs away from home to escape her abusive father, her delusional mother, and her autistic younger brother, only to find herself knocked up by her drug dealing boyfriend, harassed by her selfish older sister, and shunned by her Born-Again Christian friend. But, when she contemplates abortion, that's when the play gets really funny. Mature audiences only.
- Winner of the Kennedy Center/ACTF Region II Playwriting Award in 2001
- Published in Best Student One Acts Volume 7 by Dramatic Publishing Company in 2002
- Winner of the Northwest Zone High School Drama Festival Best Production, Best Actress, Best Supporting Actress, and Best Sound Awards in 2008
"WHERE'S JULIE? a play written by Kennedy Center short-play award winner Daniel Guyton, takes audiences on a journey through the lives and living room of an exceptionally crazy American family! If you enjoy the humor of South Park or Family Guy, you are sure to enjoy Guyton’s dark comedies, of which this play is one of the best." (Kat Reynolds, Savannah College of Art & Design, 2009)
"I'll never forget seeing WHERE'S JULIE? ... The Nintendo plugged into nothingness, the audience, the involvement of the Stage Crew and their Romeo and Juliet, the Catholic guilt. It took me back to being a kid in the 80s in a creepy, discomforting, and revelatory way." (Ryan Wilson, University of Georgia, 2010)
"Having produced this show in Houston, I cannot recommend it higher. WHERE'S JULIE? lives in a world that is equal parts melodramatic, experimental, and grounded - a combination that functions perfectly as the show progresses. Audiences have connected so well to the character of Jeff (who brought me to tears), Mom (an at first seemingly 50s housewife who we learn is at the end of her rope), Julie's friend the incredibly unhinged and hilariously pious Margaret, and the sweetly pot headed Hector. In fact, Julie's problems seem increasingly (sic) every day as we progress further into this world and find how everyone has their own struggles. I won't spoil the ending, but the twist on reality truly is hilarious and well earned. We we were very fortunate to be able to share this in Houston and hope it continues to travel the world." (Michael Weems, Cone Man Running Productions, 2017)
"Expect a good laugh (and maybe a lesson) when the question WHERE'S JULIE? is answered at the Dancing Goat Theatre... The play centers around Julie, a pregnant teenage runaway, and her autistic brother and alcoholic father. And while it's funny, Guyton also hopes the audience will find some poignant moments, as well." (Ann Marie Quill, The John's Creek Patch, 2012)
"Thank you so much for giving us the opportunity to produce WHERE'S JULIE? Our audiences not only enjoyed it, but came repeatedly and brought people with them the second time around! That is a testament to the wonderful world you created with these engaging characters and your memorable style." (Christine Weems, Cone Man Running Productions, 2017)
"It's not called a melodrama for nothing. WHERE'S JULIE? is structured as a parody of the typical after-school special, employing swelling musical cues and sappy dialogue spiced with inventive profanity that serves to create a uniquely humorous view on what would normally be taken as very serious issues. The said issues presented are never cheapened or devalued, and this is where Guyton succeeds under the language and off-color humor is a rich strain of meaningful sentiment. He enables one to laugh at the situation without forgetting its possible real-life repercussions, a key element required of successful black comedy. WHERE'S JULIE? is able to pull the rug from under the feet of the audience and hit them with moments of staggering sincerity the confrontation between the father, Harold, and his autistic son, Jeffrey, is one of the most powerful and heartbreaking moments I've ever seen on stage... I would recommend WHERE'S JULIE? to those searching for underrated quality comedies geared towards a more mature audience. Guyton delivers." (Daniel Ferris, Mostly Harmless Productions, 2012)
"Sure, you could keep it simple. Your local high school is probably performing a nice, safe musical you could see. Nick at Nite might have an episode of Friends you've seen only 499 times. Or you could attend a scathing adult comedy, WHERE'S JULIE? by local playwright Daniel Guyton... C'mon out and think a little!" (Jerry Jobe, The Dancing Goat Theatre, 2012
"Daniel Guyton's WHERE'S JULIE? is not your standard dramatic fare. It quite literally explodes the fourth wall, making the running crew an integral part of the onstage action and extending the playing area into the audience. The comedy is often off-kilter, but it's mixed with a lot of heart. The play quite simply defies categorization... It's the tie-up at the end of the show that is its most successful part. The action moves into absurdity, with just enough chaos to heighten the resolution that follows... The strange, quirky, foul-mouthed, sacrilegious text produced by Daniel Guyton hits its high point at the end, leaving a nice aftertaste of raucous comedy as the audience applauds." (Playgoer, TheaterReview.com, 2012)
"In the hilarious and thought-provoking play WHERE'S JULIE?, Daniel Guyton has captured something special. At first blush, the crude humor and seemingly thin characters give us something to laugh at — then the twist. The humor and facade are the characters way of coping with the impossibility of their everyday lives. As the characters struggle against seemingly impossible odds to make sense of the crazy world they (we) live in, they become increasingly complex, eventually smashing the fourth wall and forcing us to engage in the questions they are struggling with. This meta-theatrical funhouse brings an absurdist twist to contemporary issues." (Tim Bohn, Arkansas State University, 2017)
"WHERE'S JULIE? By Daniel Guyton is an interesting play... Throughout the play you see that the imagined "4th wall" between the audience and the stage is being lowered, and, by the end, is completely shattered... The actors were a breath of fresh air, and the set was very nice. The director, Eileen Fulford, did an amazing job putting these actors together and making them understand their goals." (www.TheatreReview.com, 2012)
"No smoke, WHERE'S JULIE? was the best play I've seen in awhile (similar in themes to AUGUST: OSAGE COUNTY). If people really pay attention, they're not uncomfortable because of the language or characters' actions, it's because they RESEMBLE us all, those situations occur everyday, everywhere. Breaking the fourth wall was an excellent mechanism to put an exclamation point on that commonality of good, as well as bad... I have sympathy and see pathos in all of those characters." (Brad Corbin, Dancing Goat Theatre, 2012)
"Daniel Guyton masterfully presents some of our own darkest thoughts that we often cannot admit to ourselves, and finds not just the hilarity in them, but the humanity. WHERE'S JULIE? is about a young woman who finds herself pregnant at 15 with a shaky support system - her verbally abusive father, her Pollyanna mother, her autistic brother, her jealous older sister, her drug-addicted boyfriend, and her judgmental best friend. At the surface, it would seem there is no hope for Julie and no hope for the child she might bear. But as the play progresses, we see that, flawed though Julie's situation may be, the people around her truly do care for and love her. If you're looking for a play outside the ordinary, you won't be disappointed with this one!" (Amy Tallmadge, Dancing Goat Theatre, 2012)
"Great show - laughed the whole way through.... There was a good bit of subtle physical business that played along with the dialog and kept the pace zipping. Congratulations to the Cast and Crew for a Job well done." (Jeff Marshall, Circle Ensemble Theatre, 2012)
"May I just say that your play is brilliant. I find that it doesn't hide anything and shows everything from everyone's point of view!" (Tiffany Charlton, actress, 2014)
"WHERE'S JULIE? is a dark, comedic, melodramatic ride through the life of Julie and her less than typical family and friends... Daniel Guyton... has done a fantastic job of creating likeable characters out of what may at first appear to be less than desirable stereotypes. WHERE'S JULIE? may at times be offensive, crass, and in your face. But that’s the point. Sometimes life is exactly that. If you only take one thing away from this performance, let it be this: sometimes life can be downright miserable, but there’s always room for laughter if we don’t take ourselves too seriously... If you like dark, offensive comedy (think South Park or Family Guy), with a good deal of wit and character, then this is your kind of theater!" (Richard Sagendorf, Mostly Harmless, 2012)
"I just got a nomination for the Irene Ryan Scholarship and I absolutely love your Running Crew monologue from WHERE'S JULIE? I was wondering if I could use it for my monologue for the competition." (Jessica McMullen, actor, 2014)
- Staged Reading at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, PA, 2000
- Produced at Maureen Stapleton Theatre in Troy, NY, 2001
- Produced by Town & Gown Players in Athens, GA, 2003
- Produced by Author's Playhouse in Bayshore, NY, 2006
- Produced by Prince Rupert Secondary School in British Columbia, Canada in 2008
- Produced at The Spirit of the Mask Festival in Canada in 2008
- Produced by Belton High School in Belton, MO in 2009
- Staged Reading at Process Theatre's New Play Read-A-Thon in Atlanta, GA, 2010
- Produced by Dancing Goat Theatre in Johns Creek, GA, 2012
- Produced by Mostly Harmless Productions in Albany, NY, 2012
- Staged Reading by Ticket 2 Eternity Productions in Manhattan, NY, 2013
- Excerpt published in 52 Monologues for Grown-Ups (And College Kids), 2012
- Excerpt published in Monologues From the Last Frontier Theatre Conference, 2013
- Excerpt published in InterJACtions: Monologues from the Heart, Vol. III, JAC Publishing, 2014
- Translated and Published in Chinese by Fiberead, 2016
- Excerpt published in 222 More Comedy Monologues by Smith & Kraus, 2016
- Produced by Cone Man Running in Houston, TX, 2017
- Published by Next Stage Press, 2018
- Excerpt Published in Later Chapter: The Best Monologues and Scenes for Actors Over 50, 2018
Total Productions (So far): 9
PR for WHERE'S JULIE? at Cone Man Running Productions by Vic Shuttee of Houston Press (2017)
Review of WHERE'S JULIE? at Dancing Goat Theatre on TheaterReview.com (2012)
Article on WHERE'S JULIE? at Dancing Goat Theatre by Anne Marie Quill of John's Creek Patch (2012)
Review of WHERE'S JULIE? Graduate Student term paper by Kat Reynolds (2009)
