←Recommendations of Rushing

Looking at rape culture in a way that is harrowing, yes, but also entertaining, Mohlman addresses so many issues that shape our world today, but the play never feels pedantic. It is an exciting read with so much heightened theatricality that I wish I could see this play in person! a wonderful play.

This is a harrowing examination of rape culture on college campuses and in the world at large as well as the toxic celebrity of athletics. Mohlman makes clear and blistering connections between masculinity, competition, the fear of failure, and the perpetuation of sexual violence. The theatricality of marching band and football is used as a brilliant framing device--it makes me yearn to see this play fully realized on its feet. The large ensemble cast is well rounded and expandable too, making this ideal for college programs. Read, produce, and discuss this piece!

I saw this play at The Scratch's workshopped production, and it was one of the most effective deconstructions of rape culture on college campuses that I've ever seen.

I was particularly moved by the way that Russell was constructed as your run of the mill love interest in the first half, before his image was torn down piece by piece by his actions, privilege, and the wall of financial interest protecting him in the second.

This play is important, and I see a bright future ahead as it is further developed.

Read it.

I've never read a play like this one before. Danielle Mohlman deconstructs the perils of celebrity with a style and scope that suck you into the mythological world of athletics - a world that more than half the United States lives in - and simultaneously zero in on the rippling toxicity that comes from giving our gods everything they think they deserve. Rushing is a play that says the quiet part loud and does so with a level of craft I'm in awe of. I want to believe a theatre exists that can accommodate its grandness.

Sometimes you read a new play and you get hit with that feeling: this is going to be produced EVERYWHERE. And this play should. At turns I thought this couldn’t possibly happen and then I have been in the room where this happens. Danielle Mohlman is changing the world. You can feel her rage and her hope in every line. It also contains the single most punk rock moment I have ever read in a play. Read it, produce it. Be moved.

A dynamic and devastatingly honest play, RUSHING questions our society’s glorification of athletes. This play scores a touchdown with its clever and realistic dialogue, complex characters, and an arresting marching band soundtrack. Highly recommended for anyone interested in creating an unforgettable theatre experience that speaks to current social issues.

'Rushing' is an ambitious play, both in its scope, cast size, and themes. Even with a world, when fully realized, that includes a football team, a marching band, and the spectators to a game, the play is still very personal, very raw, very intimate. Mia's journey is unabashedly brutal, but not gratuitously so; everything we see and hear in the piece connects us emotionally with her. The themes 'Rushing' explores are not easy, they are complex, large, important, and need our attention. The playwright succeeds in making us pay attention and ask ourselves how to do better.

As the dramaturg for the first staged reading of 'Rushing,' I could not recommend this play more highly. It's ambitious, but it should be. The world of the play is vast and clear, the characters are relatable (and most certainly college students), and the way Mohlman has shaped the action is spot on. We careen through Mia's experiences, carried by the sound of drum lines and football chants, and it's terrifying. This play leaves audience members feeling unresolved, but not without hope. If you have the people for the cast, make 'Rushing' come to life.