←Recommendations of MEMOIRS OF A FORGOTTEN MAN

Lovely, lovely play. The ground keeps shifting under the characters, and therefore for the audience as well. Moments of delight, terror, and loss, and—late in the play—a moment of grace so profound I still tear up remembering it. Great roles. A privilege to work on.

I saw this at Thalia's Umbrella in February 2024 in Seattle. This is a brilliantly constructed play. The way it layers both the tensions and the mergings between the past and present, the personal and the political, is so richly and carefully done, yet in such a way that you won't realize on a first watch/read. Although some of the particulars of the Soviet Union may feel alien, the fear, paranoia, and constant-tip-toeing around a government caught between lies and all-consuming control is far too familiar.

Despite being steeped in Soviet-era realpolitik--with all its paranoia, suspicion, and fear--and even amid so many shrewd observations on the utilitarian uses/purposes of memory, this mesmerizing story at its heart pulses with the very human cost of history based not on truth but on the needs of who writes it. Or maybe more accurately: who rewrites it. A moving tale about the soul-crushing power of systemic lies, and what people do to survive that.

Could a play be timelier? D.W. Gregory's MEMOIRS OF A FORGOTTEN MAN is extraordinary in how it weaves the complex history of Stalin's terror into a dynamic human narrative. MEMOIRS' plot twists and poetic language advance the powerful issues of memory, political suppression, and loss at the heart of the play. D.W. Gregory had given audiences - and her fellow playwrights - a master class in writing historical drama.

This is a gripping political thriller with compelling familial and interpersonal dynamics. So much mystery and suspense to pull us in. Will Natalya betray her subject? What is her real history? What is Kreplev's endgame? That the play depicts so well the terrors of a totalitarian state make its contemporary resonance all the more chilling.

It is not enough that D.W. Gregory has crafted a drama in which the gift a remarkably long and accurate memory could mark one for state terror, in which a scientific paper could arouse political concerns that risk sending the investigator to the Gulag, in which even the act of rehabilitation is not without risk, it's that she has imbued this historical drama set in the time between Stalin and Khrushchev with the vibrant language of its synesthetic subject. I reviewed the 2022 Washington Stage Guild production: https://washingtoncitypaper.com/article/556820/a-story-within-a-story-m…...

A fascinating understanding of the political reality one must live under as they navigate justice and freedom in a fragile world. Well done.

There is so much to admire in this piece. I particularly enjoyed the seamless motion between past and present, memory and deception. With masterful structure and theatricality, Memoirs opens up conversations about power and control, and the danger of self-deception. Very relevant to today's political climate and a wonderfully suspenseful play. Intricate, well-paced, and exquisite!

I was on the selection committee for last year's National Winter Playwright Retreat. This was the clear winner of the plays submitted, which culminated in a staged reading in Colorado in January of 2018. This play captured me on page one and the words and ideas still haunt me a year later. A captivating, brilliant work. I am tickled to see that it is now enjoying a rolling world premiere.

Memoirs of a Forgotten Man by D.W. Gregory is receiving a National New Play Network Rolling World Premiere. The partnering NNPN Member Theaters are Contemporary American Theater Festival (Shepherdstown, WV), Shadowland Stages (Ellenville, NY), and New Jersey Repertory Company (Long Branch.