←

Kill Shelter by Ashley Rose Wellman

  • Recommend
  • Download
  • Save to Reading List

Recommendations

Recommendations

  • Jillian Blevins:
    27 Jul. 2023
    “ Ashley Rose Wellman’s KILL SHELTER manages to be both intimate and expansive—a fitting contradiction for a play that insists on nuance and moral ambiguity. Colleen and Ellie’s well-drawn mother-daughter relationship anchors a story that tackles generational curses, abortion rights, euthanasia, teen parenthood and poverty. The real miracle of the play is how naturally these heavy issues are woven into the narrative, and how light a touch Wellman manages to have with them.

    The heartbreaking puppet sequences are uniquely theatrical and unflinchingly humane. Uncertainty is at the heart of KILL SHELTER—and that’s it’s greatest strength. ”
  • Aly Kantor:
    11 Jan. 2023
    “ I go to the theatre because, somehow, that communal space always manages to give me permission to express my most repressed emotions. Considering I wept while reading this alone in my bedroom, I cannot imagine what it would have done to me if I'd seen it on stage. It's such an efficient, well-structured little narrative with so many challenging questions at the center, but it all comes down to love and doing the right thing. It's both difficult and hopeful, with an elegant simplicity. The open ending really works. I'm so glad I got to know these characters. ”
  • Kailan Clay:
    28 Jun. 2022
    “ I had the pleasure of reading for Nolan in the play's reading at the Valdez theatre conference. This piece beautifully navigates heavy topics, darkness, and comedy. As a performer, I had a hard time keeping myself from breaking as the comedy in this script is so wonderfully crafted! ”
  • Jasmine Spiess:
    23 Jun. 2022
    “ After hearing the buzz about this play at the Valdez Theatre Conference, I'm glad I was able to catch the recording. This is so powerful on so many levels and really takes the audience on a journey that ultimately makes the statement, "You have your whole life ahead of you." It was so smart to juxtapose the animals about to be euthanized and the human voices Colleen attached to them. I may never recover from the labrador moment. So beautiful. Congratulations, Ashley! ”
  • Greg Romero:
    22 Jun. 2022
    “ I had the pleasure of watching a reading of KILL SHELTER at the 2022 Valdez Theater Conference, and I continue to be blown away by Ashley Wellman's writing. Wellman's writing is fresh, powerful, surprising, incredibly smart, and full of emotional moments that are truthful, dangerous, and brave. She puts her characters through transformational, challenging journeys that rip the audience's guts out in the best way possible. I would travel to Alaska just to watch this play again, and I hope a theater closer to home will make the smart decision to produce this excellent play. SO GOOD. ”
  • Libby Heily:
    22 Jun. 2022
    “ I watched a reading of Kill Shelter on Youtube from the Valdez Theater Conference. Thoroughly enjoyed it. The interior thoughts of the pets blew me away - a surreal element that expressed the sheer terror of being human through the lens of discarded and injured pets. The characters felt like people I'd met many times in my life and yet remained distinct and unique to this world. Incredibly well done piece. ”
  • Greg Lam:
    21 Jun. 2022
    “ An intensely moving and empathic portrait of a single mother who is raising a 17-year-old daughter and also running an animal shelter that must, at times, euthanize animals in order to make room for new ones when adoptive families cannot be found. There is a wonderful level of detail in this richly drawn slice of life, and the main character’s connection with the animals that she cares for is surprising and affecting. ”
  • Emily McClain:
    19 Jun. 2022
    “ I had the sheer pleasure of hearing this read at the Valdez Theatre Conference and very few plays activated my "director brain" more than this one. The characters are beautifully drawn and deliciously complex. The relationships that drive the action of the play are heightened by the circumstances of their occupations and situations- but for me, the way Wellman handles moral and philosophical questions with such a gentle touch is an absolute triumph. This is a play that will create the kinds of "parking lot conversations" we need to be having. Produce this play! ”
  • Arthur M Jolly:
    19 Jun. 2022
    “ Another phenomenal play by Wellman - perhaps her best work yet. Kill Shelter is harrowing, profound, moving, heartbreaking - and ultimately hopeful. The mother/daughter relationship at the heart of the play is a brilliant portrayal of the complexities of family dynamics - all set against a heightened emotional world where life and death decisions are never abstract. ”
  • Philip Middleton Williams:
    14 Jun. 2022
    “ Even in the reading at the Valdez Theatre Conference with the cast standing at music stands, the imagery and resonance of the story came through. The depth of feeling for the situations -- facing life-changing decisions and the shelter as a metaphor for both the two and four-legged characters in the play -- was palpable. And the parallels of the lives and decisions that must be made will leave the audience with many impressions long after the play is over. Beautifully crafted. ”

Pages