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Recommendations

Recommendations

  • John Busser:
    4 Jan. 2022
    The setting here is just as important as what's being said, as two friends are about to move on from each other as friends often do. Equating life as a journey with quarters placed on the track, signifying bumps along the way was a nicely subtle metaphor. There is a quiet dignity in the characters here and would be wonderful to see someone get a chance to say these words.
  • Donald E. Baker:
    23 Jul. 2021
    In high school, two young men, literally from different sides of the tracks, shared something intense. But did the experience really have any meaning? They meet to confront (or not) that question as graduation is about to send them off on completely different paths. Much of the emotion of this excellent, truthful play takes place in the awkward silences of teenagers and would be a terrific challenge for young actors.
  • Adam Richter:
    28 Jun. 2021
    "A Quarter Placed on Railroad Tracks" is a poignant and tender two-hander about two friends whose paths are about to diverge onto completely different trajectories. A beautiful play by Steven G. Martin. This would be great to see on stage.
  • Daniel Prillaman:
    11 Apr. 2021
    There's a melancholy that pervades the air of this bittersweet piece. Jaske and Court obviously have a deep history (we always do with our childhood friends), but it's one that Martin gloriously leaves implied, for us to interpret and wonder over during the beautiful silences where neither can bring themselves to articulate their feelings. Goodbyes, sooner or later, always come. Life takes us in different directions. We don't always get to choose to face them, but that doesn't erase what they meant to us. Or how they made us who we are today. A truly lovely short.
  • Erin Osgood:
    6 Mar. 2021
    Life is all about choices, opportunities, and unpredictability. Martin's piece describes this well with the story of two friends after their high school graduation. What is said, and most importantly what is not said, between these characters is intriguing.
  • DC Cathro:
    9 Feb. 2021
    Sweet, sad, and symbolic. The power in this piece is what’s left unsaid, the history between these two that is only hinted at but hangs heavy throughout. Martin has a wonderful knack for dialogue and showing volumes of insight in just a few pages. Lovely.
  • Vince Gatton:
    8 Feb. 2021
    On the cusp of big life changes, two young men meet by the railway track for what will clearly be a goodbye. Martin does a terrific job of letting us understand what's unsaid and at stake between these two, eschewing clunky exposition and giving us dialogue that feels true to the ease and mutual understanding of two people whose lives have been deeply intertwined -- and are about to diverge. Simple, clear, sad, and lovely.
  • Ky Weeks:
    4 Feb. 2021
    Paints a melancholy moment out of the image of an oncoming train, as representing a moment of parting. The farewell is inevitable, but even with as much as the characters have left undone, they try to put off saying the actually important thing. What lingers in its place is full of contemplation and perfectly intentional ellipses. Entrancing.
  • Cheryl Bear:
    3 Feb. 2021
    The crossroads of the train tracks capturing life after graduation. Which direction should we go and can we predict the outcome? Well done.

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