Anthony J. Piccione's WHAT I LEFT BEHIND Now Available From Smith Scripts

Last week, Smith Scripts - one of the fastest growing independent play publishers in the United Kingdom - published What I Left Behind, one of the most well-known short plays by award-winning writer and producer Anthony J. Piccione.

Scripts and production rights are available online at www.smithscripts.co.uk/product/what-i-left-behind-by-anthony-j-piccione/

The award-winning short drama, exploring themes of bullying and teen suicide, was originally published last year at JAC Publishing and Promotions shortly after the play's world premiere at the New York Theatre Festival's 2018 NYWinterfest. Following the Massachusetts-based publisher's sudden closure in July, Mr. Piccione promptly entered into an agreement with the UK-based Smith Scripts to distribute the play for reading and production purposes on their website.

According to the play's summary, "the play focuses on a young high school student suffering from severe depression brought on by bullying at the hands of classmates, who shocks everyone by taking their own life. In the aftermath, what's left of the student's consciousness assesses all the events leading up to the incident, and begins to reconsider the ultimate decision that was made."

The play began its life as a staged reading in 2016 at Eastern Connecticut State University, before premiering at the Hudson Guild Theatre as part of the NYWinterfest, where it was well-received by New York audiences and was named the NYWinterfest's Best Short Play of 2018. According to Dorian Palumbo of Drama Queens Reviews at the time of its premiere, "Playwright Piccione does an absolutely masterful job in illustrating this story, ostensibly an issue play, in a way that doesn't make it feel like an issue play at all. He has rendered the story with the kind of wisdom and depth that indicates that he has a visceral and personal connection with the subject."

The premiere of What I Left Behind was directed by Sarah Jane Schostack, and the cast featured Julie Wallace, Erin Amlicke, Emma Romeo, Gabriel Stephens, Dana Majeski, and Andres Gallardo Bustillo.

In addition to Smith Scripts, Piccione's work has also been published with Heuer Publishing and Off the Wall Plays. His controversial full-length drama A Therapy Session with Myself has been running at the Kraine Theater since May of this year, and was recently extended into mid-2020.

For more information, please visit www.anthonyjpiccione.com.