←Recommendations of TEACH

Symbolism is replete from character assignations, dialogue, setting, staging, and blocking. This is a very musical play with choreographed dancing between characters who switch partners, choreographed like a ballroom dance.

TEACH makes us think about the roles we have as humans, interacting with other humans in some form or fashion, in some degree or the other: good, bad, indifferent, or somewhere in between, and the question is where is the line, and who’s crossing it.

This would be a wonderful challenge for directors and actors, and a voyeuristic engagement from the audience.

Donna Hoke’s “Teach” is a brilliantly stylized play that poses questions about the boundaries between students and teachers. From the outset, the play creates heightened tension about a high school teacher who becomes friendly with a needy student, and then continues to unspool new levels of mystery and inquiry that grip throughout. Audience members are pushed to consider what they would do in similar circumstances – “where is the line?” the play asks again and again. Playing on two tracks simultaneously with interchanging cross gender encounters, Hoke creates a quiet masterpiece in storytelling that theaters will find compelling.

Reading this play is like reading good poetry. It is emotionally complex, intricately beautiful, and incredibly thought-provoking. I found myself so easily and quickly drawn in to the well develop characters and quick, natural dialogue. It is one of the most interesting structures I have seen in a play, striking a perfect balance between the normally dreaded flashback and the intense interrogation by Ken. The use of gender fluidity is interesting and unique. It only ever adds to the story, never subtracts. This play was amazing in my mind's eye, and I'm convinced it would be even better on stage.

This is one of the most intense plays I've read on NPX.
Inventive structure with whiplash-courtroom questioning and fluid pacing kept me invested to the end.
This play asks so many tough questions, among them: when parents are out of the picture, when they don't give a sh*t about their child's academic/emotional/ intellectual growth, how much is too much for a teacher to get involved?
If Hoke's play Elevator Girl made your audience uncomfortable, forcing them to question their biases and perceptions on gender and power, this will do the same.
I would love to see this performed!

A sharp and inventive exploration of gender, power, and perception. The casting convention is particularly well-conceived and proves thought-provoking on multiple levels. Simultaneously timely, nuanced, accessible, and eminently producible. I, too, hope to see a full production of this outstanding play very soon.

I had the pleasure of seeing a workshop of TEACH at the Athena Project’s Play In Progress Series. I was blown away by the innovative use of casting to create a uniquely theatrical play. But the play doesn’t rely on spectacle alone. Donna has managed to create characters that I am genuinely invested in, regardless of their gender. This is a story that demands to be told on stages across the country. I sincerely hope that I get the chance to see a full production of this play soon.

I just got back from an excellent reading of "Teach" a superb drama about how our logic can be easily unbuttoned by passion. We think we're in control; we believe we're doing the right thing, and then suddenly we're in over our heads. "Teach" blurs the lines between man and women, wrong and right, love and ache. This small cast, simple set play with innovative staging needs to be produced, now!

What an intense, clever, and impacting script. Donna Hoke takes us to school and teaches some powerful lessons...some of them are taught simply through Hoke's magical use of theatricality [ the gender fluidity]. I found it really intriguing how the existential world of the school is a lab for the chem teacher/principal to run his experiment. This is such good work and such a great story. I'd love to see it in production.

Hoke masterfully exposes our prejudices and assumptions as the play's perspectives seamlessly shift in surprising ways. The play forces an audience to grapple with pre-conceived notions and rewards the viewer with an opportunity to leave the theatre with a newfound view of gender politics and why we view things the way way we do. A play that deserves to be seen and heard.

On one level, TEACH is a ruthless exploration of how gender and sexual preference impact power dynamics in psychosexual relationships. But only a few minutes into the play and the examination falls away leaving behind a story about people’s lives with consequences that matter. I know how I feel about imbalance of power in romances. But what I enjoyed most about this play, is that Hoke doesn’t. Or at least, she doesn’t show her hand. She just shows her heart. Staging this gem would be an engaging experience for both theaters and audiences!