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Slaying Holofernes by Emily McClain

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Recommendations

  • Nora Louise Syran:
    23 Oct. 2023
    “ McClain deftly weaves together two stories, one set in the modern day and the other, the past and yet the parallels are disturbingly real. Progress is disturbingly absent. Both stories are equally compelling. Brava, playwright. Timely ...and timeless...? With work like McClain's being produced on stage to bring this subject matter to light, hopefully not. ”
  • Christopher Soucy:
    22 Dec. 2022
    “ Beautiful, well constructed, a tour de force of storytelling. Amazing roles, inspired parallels of injustice, and top notch theatricality. It is also infuriating. The kind of infuriating that stories like these deserve. They need to be told. We need to be outraged. Emily McClain has crafted an amazing art history lesson/dynamic tale of the continued mistreatment of women. I distinctly remember seeing the titular painting in Florence when I was a child and being amazed by its brutality. McClain has done Gentileschi and her art a great service in this tale. ”
  • Chelsea Frandsen:
    14 Feb. 2022
    “ A beautifully interwoven story of two amazing women that delivers a message that resonates as loudly today as it did in the past. An unflinching look at sexual harassment and assault, this play that hits you right in the gut and doesn't let you go even after the lights fade. ”
  • Karen Ruetz:
    4 Jan. 2022
    “ What a powerful play! Two women from different times, grappling with similar experiences, their stories overlapping in a poignant and unforgettable way. Highly recommend! ”
  • Emma Goldman-Sherman:
    5 Sep. 2021
    “ Wonderfully theatrical and beautifully written, Slaying Holofernes is a play that must be staged. The characters are fascinating and deeply drawn both from history and from today's ongoing concerns for equity, parity and basic fairness, and this play is exactly what we need to be producing on our stages to move us all forward to a better future. So moving and involving and true! ”
  • Daniel Prillaman:
    26 Aug. 2020
    “ READ THIS. McClain has painted an infuriating and heart-wrenching piece of theatre. It is masterfully composed, deftly telling in parallel the tales of two women separated by centuries but intimately connected by harassment and assault in the workplace. How far have we truly come since the 1600s? How far must we still go? While tragic, the play ultimately hardens our resolve and our spirit, and is a work that can simply not be ignored. This play deserves a long, long life on the stage, and it demands your attention. ”
  • Peter Hardy:
    4 May. 2020
    “ I had the privilege and pleasure of directing the world premiere of this script, a new play of startling scope and ambition that spans four centuries and two continents with its tale of two remarkable young women. A provocative look at how much some things have changed in 400 years, while others haven't changed at all. This play had a profound impact on our audiences. One an older gentleman said to me "This is the best show you've ever done," and a lady then told me "I was going to say the same thing. It was very healing for me." ”
  • David Hansen:
    25 Apr. 2020
    “ McClain's work is an intense courtroom/boardroom drama, moving back and forth in time to detail the unfair treatment of two women in the workplace. The playwright's use of classical paintings, and her stage directions regarding to use of light are particularly compelling. This is a powerful play, enhanced by Biblical, classical, and modern atmospheres. Timely, and highly recommended. ”
  • Laurel Ann Lowe:
    6 Apr. 2020
    “ McClain paints a picture of just how little has changed between Renaissance painter Artemisia Gentileschi's rape and the modern workplace rife with sexual assault, discrimination, and retaliatory practices. The struggle of Amanda and Artemisia to be heard, to be believed, and to find justice are disturbingly parallel. McClain's play is intense, moving, and NECESSARY. ”
  • Daniel Guyton:
    13 Feb. 2020
    “ I saw this play at the Essential Theatre in Atlanta this past summer, and it was one of the best new plays I've seen all year. Deals with two women in different time periods, both dealing with sexual assault and the blind eye turned by those in power. One woman is Artemisia Gentileschi, a Renaissance painter who brought her rapist to trial in 1611. The other woman is Amanda Adams, a contemporary woman dealing with sexual assault in the workplace. Artemisia's story is ripped from the history books. Amanda's is fictional, but no less relevant. Read and produce this play! ”

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