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Man & Wife by Emma Goldman-Sherman

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Recommendations

  • David Quang Pham:
    8 Apr. 2020
    “ MAN & WIFE is structured like a Well-Made Play, where the play begins with what should be a story's climax. The introduction starts with Ron's and Missy's wedding. There seemed to be no other path than divorce and taking Ron to the cleaners. Emma Goldman-Sherman did a phenomenal job in bringing catharsis alongside the psychological developments in their marriage to reveal their underlying incidents; we get to thoroughly know the story before their wedding. ”
  • Gina Femia:
    30 Jul. 2019
    “ Emma is one of the most raw and adventurous voices of our time and Man & Wife is an explosive play. It needs to be done NOW and often. ”
  • Cameron Houg:
    14 May. 2019
    “ Sometimes taking things out of reality is the best way to comment on the real world. This play may have an abstract frame, but the characters and conflicts are uncomfortably real. I felt anxious reading arguments and conflicts that feel all too real and familiar.

    As the play goes on and the relationships are complicated further, the reader is forced to examine their own biases and presumptions about the way the world “should” be, and we are presented with a world that diverges from the perfect white picket fence people imagine, and becomes more complex. It becomes real. ”
  • Cheryl Bear:
    2 May. 2019
    “ Astonishing. The cookie-cutter wedding toppers and board game of "Life" never really is. Behind the family Christmas card or the 'photo-in-the frame' placeholder, are the real human beings and relationships of complexity what is often muted to not disturb the paradigm. Powerful and dynamic, this play holds so much life. Yet it's so richly comical and a sheer delight, I can't express how much I enjoyed this play. Yes, yes and yes! ”
  • Donna Hoke:
    2 Jan. 2019
    “ A master class in writing something that absolutely has to be on stage and not on screen. Highly theatrical, comic, and full of commentary that will leave you laughing, empathizing, and maybe a little disturbed. ”
  • Dominica Plummer:
    20 Dec. 2018
    “ What an amazing play. I thoroughly enjoyed reading it for the powerful plot, and the sharp and satirical dialogue. But this lively two hander is just so much more than a play about a married couple as they move through life. Sure this play is about love, but it's also about politics, including gender dysphoria, climate change, abortion—you name it, this playwright has found a way to make it part of the story of this couple's journey together. A play for two actors that encompasses the world. Well done, Emma Goldman-Sherman! ”
  • Julie Zaffarano:
    10 Dec. 2018
    “ So much life packed into one play. We follow this couple as they work through twenty-five years of marriage, as the world moves around them and life hands them unexpected problems. They hold on, they slip, they fall, they get back up again — in a hilariously human way. Would love to see this on stage. ”
  • Michael Goodwin Hilton:
    1 Dec. 2018
    “ Wildly inventive and relevant in both obvious as well as unsuspecting ways. While foregrounding the outrageous yet deceptively endearing trials of Rob and Missy's relationship, the play manages to probe something much deeper in our society: the unprecedented disjointing of the actual self from the presented one. A phenomena nurtured by emoji culture, whose consequences can be felt in misleading poll figures and our general weariness of one another. The play doesn't concede to defeat, however; in fact, through its dynamism of language and action, the audience is expected to respond critically and creatively to find its own way forward. ”
  • Dave Osmundsen:
    30 Apr. 2018
    “ This fascinating, complex, and multilayered play takes us through the tumultuous marriage of a man and a woman during a particularly devastating presidency. The central couple, Rob and Missy, spend the whole play trying to sustain their marriage, their children, and each other through troublesome times. The play is wildly theatrical and very funny, with dialogue that is both sincere and sardonic. It also asks tough questions about marriage, politics, gender identity, and how we relate to each other from different sides of the political spectrum. A rich and enjoyable play! ”
  • Claudia Haas:
    15 Apr. 2018
    “ Hold on to your hats, it's going to be a bumpy life. And it is. Goldman-Sherman explores role-playing, gender-identity, Trumpism, climate change and even ye olde yearly Merry Christmas card with candor and warmth. Written with a deft ear (and eye) for character nuances, Sherman lays bare a marriage that is the poster child for our times. Her couple radiates their humanity in all its foibles. Sometimes you're nodding your head and then suddenly - you want to clobber them. The two roles are multi-layered and a gift to the actors. It's one crazy, funhouse ride. ”

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