Grand Delusion

“Reminiscent of ‘Dr. Strangelove,’ Rock displays a keen sense of the outrageous in his ambitious world premiere Grand delusion.” – LA Times

“Rock’s intelligent and zany script – part history lesson, part Marx Brothers movie – is quite funny and is bound to see life beyond this premiere.” – Backstage West

“Fabulously entertaining and utterly hilarious. Very few plays strike such a lovely balance between biting wit and belly laugh.” – Los Angeles Loyolan

“A raucous and ridiculous black comedy. Grand Delusion is a hoot!” – Reviewplays.com

“A briskly-paced and manically comic re-imagining.” – Curtainup.com

“Highly entertaining. Brilliant.” – About.com

“An outrageous noir comedy! Brad Raider is excellent.” – American Radio Network

“Immensely enjoyable. A bitterly satirical and witty play that makes profound statements about life, politics, and history.” – Daily Bruin

“Revelatory dialogue. Grand Delusion’s historical message about the present teaches us that the run up to war and war itself can be as absurdly hilarious now as it was in 1914. It’s that rare bit of comedy that never mentions current events yet could be ripped from every headline from Washington to Baghdad, all with wit and vigor worthy of a stage twice its size.” – Laist

The year is 1914. The world is on the brink of war and chaos. Millions of lives hang in the balance and the fate of future generations is being shaped boldly by a few good mad men. Grand Delusion, the brand-new, biting black comedy from playwright David Rock, imagines a secret confab of world leaders in the days immediately preceding World War I. The zany cast of historical and fictional characters includes a paranoid and narcissistic Kaiser Wilhelm; his foolish cousin Czar Nicholas II; and an Austrian foreign minister hungry for a war that will suitably impress his beautiful girlfriend. It’s a dark and hilarious depiction of how the gears of diplomacy just might have turned to alter history forever…