←Recommendations of Alabaster

Beautiful piece with an evocative sense of place and extremely compelling characters. A funny, human, and poignantly wrenching story of healing from trauma and individual paths and roads to discovery. I truly hope I get to see this onstage soon!

A great blend of funny and heart-wrenching sadness. The play takes you deep into the heart and thoughts of all three main characters, revealing the truth underneath the words spoken and unspoken. In the end, you are left with feeling equally full and released. A beautiful, beautiful display of bringing beauty from ashes.

A lovely journey through the lives of two traumatized women who live and learn and heal together as they get to know each other. Touching, funny, and with enough surrealism that you’ll find yourself scratching your head in a good way. Whether it’s the talking goats, or the heartwarming story, this play has a lot to offer!

Being from the south, I appreciated how the play was imbued by the setting but was not about the setting. I found myself wanting to linger in the strange, sensual world of the play -- and was right there with the characters as the play hurdles towards its conclusion.

A lovely story with heart. A beautiful mix of pain, pathos, and wit. This exceptional play is the kind of story we need right now, told in a touching, compelling, and thoughtful way.

"Alabaster" is that one-in-a-thousand play that works both as a bittersweet comedy that's full of surprises and as a heart wrenching testament to what it means to be alive in an age of uncertainty. The characters are wonderfully unique and their dialogue is snappy and illuminating. Besides, how many plays have goats that comment on the action in them? I wholeheartedly recommend Audrey's incredible play to anyone searching for a work brimming with humanity.

It's not always easy to predict how a play will connect to you, how it will affect you. We talk so much about "relevancy" these days but often lose sight of the fact that relevance isn't just about current events or topical themes--it's also about what it does inside the hearts of the audience and the bond it creates with you and the stage.

Well-written characters, no matter the situation, open up these passages of human understanding, of connection. This play did that for me and more. It's a tremendous gift to my heart.

Sometimes a piece just glues you to your chair, makes you laugh, rips your heart out, and when it's done you want to hold the people you love tightly and not let go. Sometimes life is hard, sometimes it's nearly impossible, but we can get through it together...sometimes with a talking goat... and sometimes you get the opportunity to work on a piece that's so beautifully crafted you're impatient for the next several months to go by so you can get to the rehearsal room!

Alabaster by Audrey Cefaly was featured in NNPN's 2018 National Showcase of New Plays.

Saw the reading of this poignant and funny play at the NNPN showcase in December. Audrey is a rare find in contemporary theatre -- a genuine Southern regionalist on stage, who writes with deep emotion about matters of the heart. In all of her work, her characters are rich and engaging, but in 'Alabaster' she's truly hit her stride.