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Once Upon a Smorgasbord by Miranda Jonté

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  • Daniel Prillaman:
    16 Jan. 2023
    “ While not a cheese and crackers enthusiast, I have certainly been around charcuterie before. But I can wholeheartedly say that my future smorgasbords while never quite be the same. At once mournful and celebratory, Jonte's rich, poetic dialogue will find its way directly into your soul. A beautiful testament to life, love, loss, and hope. And food. Such delicious food. ”
  • Vince Gatton:
    1 Jan. 2023
    “ Miranda Jonte has the soul of a poet - but also a storytelling eye and ear deeply grounded in physical reality. Her path to the transcendent is usually carved through the specific: tastes, smells, colors, even erotic itches…her keen sense of the telling detail delivers huge emotional dividends. This is especially true here, in a metaphysical yet very real-world, human-sized, lived-in story of love, loss, and the relentlessly-forward pull of time. Excellent. ”
  • Dominica Plummer:
    1 Jan. 2023
    “ An incredibly moving and fully alive short play about losing a partner. Miranda Jonte gives us an in the moment account of what it's like to navigate such treacherous waters. Once Upon A Smorgasbord is not a monologue as might be expected in such a personal piece, because Zelly's dead husband is right there to help her mourn and move on. The language is poetic, cinematic, and powerful. Beautiful. ”
  • Jillian Blevins:
    30 Dec. 2022
    “ Miranda Jonte’s meditation on grief and healing achieves so much in its few pages. Her protagonist’s raw and poetic stream of consciousness instantly draws us into her longing, her pain, and her enduring love for her deceased husband, who appears to reminisce about their passion for charcuterie, and perhaps, to guide her towards a new future.

    Jonte’s evocative use of language and structure renders SMORGASBORD part diary, part elegy, and completely engrossing. Spare, melancholic, and lovely. ”
  • John Busser:
    30 Dec. 2022
    “ Just lovely. If only all grief could be processed this way, smoothing the transition to the next phase of life after the loss of a loved one. There is an effort here to honor the past but also look ahead. Death is messy but so is life. It's all in how we deal with the mess. Miranda Jonte gives us three characters that are all wonderfully written and able to make the idea of loss a bit easier to work with. ”
  • Monica Cross:
    28 Dec. 2022
    “ ONCE UPON A SMORGASBORD is a lovely tale of lose, grief, and possibly hope(?). The style is haunting and the ending is sweet. This play feels so effortless to stage, which is great because all of the emotional heavy lifting is in the words Miranda Jonte gives these characters. With an ending that will bring a smile, this piece is perfect for any 10-minute play festival!

    BRAVA! ”
  • Adam Richter:
    27 Dec. 2022
    “ Not all ghosts are there to haunt. Zelly's dead husband stays with her long after he's gone to help her cope with the loss of him, and guide her to a new life. Grief is a universal feeling that humans have been trying to wrestle as long as there have been humans. But Miranda Jonte finds something new to say about it, and she does so beautifully. ”
  • Sam Heyman:
    27 Dec. 2022
    “ In Once Upon a Smorgasbord, Miranda Jonte does an excellent job at balancing the mournful and the hopeful, at capturing a journey through love, loss and beginning to love again. Even with minimal staging, the poetic and poignant language at this play's center will be sure to transport audiences to places, emotional and imagined, that will linger with them even once the lights fade to black. ”
  • Christopher Soucy:
    27 Dec. 2022
    “ Lyrical, dreamy, and bittersweet. Like an old, sad song that is instantly familiar the first time you hear it. This loving presentation of grief and recovery is a banquet of memories and emotions. ”