←Recommendations of Thrasher (10 minute excerpt of OFF THE PALISADES PARKWAY)

Awwww, the teenage years--when priorities are misplaced and hope springs eternal! I love these two characters because we have ALL BEEN these two characters at some point. Who doesn't have that friend with whom we can be brutally honest without risking rejection? Malakhow's dialogue is sharp, witty, and in your face (a quality I adore in playwrights). This is a strong play for a strong pair of young actors. Quite a memorable piece!

This play compressed the decades between my age now, and my teenage self, down to nothing, taking me right back to the uncertainties, the bravado, the insecurity, the need to fit in. Malakhow's dialogue is strong as ever in this short piece - Creating richly-detailed characters in just a few brush strokes, creating humor, reliability. There's a moment here, like a corner we haven't walked around yet, this mystery called growing up. We all have to do it someday, right? What if that moment is right now? I'll be thinking about their conversation for a good, long time.

A very realistic look on two teenagers who are on the cusp of something that neither of them seem to understand. The dialogue is real, the characters are fully fleshed out in just two pages. It feels like looking in on a perfectly imperfect slice of life. I love how Malakhow treats these characters--their voices are truly excellent.

That moment in your teen years when your friend has other friends. Malakhow captures a moment that most people can relate to or remember. The language, frustration, and tension of this moment seems so uncontrived, authentic, it's astounding.
This would be a great scene-study for beginning actors and a smart selection for any short play showcase.

This play took me back to my late teens; that time when certainty and uncertainty in who you are and what you want are constantly butting heads against one another. Malakhow gives us two complex and wonderful characters that give themselves as many obstacles, if not more, than what they set up for one another. I thought the relationship and care between them was deftly handled. A really nice slice of life play.