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Recommendations

Recommendations

  • Sam Danko:
    20 Nov. 2023
    Lies by Jerry Slaff is an incredibly tight two-hander which explores the truth in lies and lies in the truth. Not everything is so clearly cut as they'd like you to think, and there is always much more room for nuance than you could possibly imagine. The characters in Slaff's play are deep and carry around with them intellectual complexities that any actor would die for a chance to play. and above everything else, it was a blast to read and I couldn't recommend it more.
  • Philip Middleton Williams:
    13 Oct. 2021
    In "The Crucible," Arthur Miller used the Salem witch trials as the allegory for the McCarthy era, framing the paranoia of the Red Scare as a cautionary tale of the consequences for the accused and accusers. In much the same way, Jerry Slaff uses the case of an American woman convicted of treason during World War II as analogous to the time when truth vs. "alternative facts" made us all wonder where the line between reality and fiction became blurred or obliterated. There are many lessons in this intense two-hander. Ignore them at your peril.
  • Jennifer O'Grady:
    2 Feb. 2021
    A terrifically skillful and suspenseful play, with two fascinating characters and lots of twists and turns you never see coming. I'd love to see this produced. Highly recommend!
  • Catherine Weingarten:
    7 Oct. 2020
    Wow! What an exciting and dramatic and freaky ride Slaff takes us on. Both characters are flawed yet likable yet hot messes and I love loved figuring out who they thought they were vs who they actually were. This fast moving psychological thriller of a story is chock full of great surprises and moments of reckoning.
  • Theatre on the Lake TOTL:
    30 Jun. 2020
    We were thrilled to select Jerry Slaff's Lies as our Maryland winner of the Old Red Barn New Play Reading Series. Jerry's tense and unexpected play is populated with two deeply developed characters who will keep an audience guessing until the very end. Highly recommended!
  • Steven Christopher McKnight:
    29 May. 2020
    There is an insurmountable and skillfully-cultivated through-line of tension to this play. This script is such a unique experience, and has you second-guessing every single line of dialogue as it happens. Overall, one of the best scripts I've read this year.