←Recommendations of Make Way

Do we hold on to terrible books in order to teach people why they're terrible, or destroy them forever? If we choose to destroy them, who gets to say which books are terrible? The way this play engages with the idea of censorship and the way the playwright fleshes out the landscape of this alternate reality are deeply intriguing. Osmundsen possesses a strong artistic voice that we should all be listening to right now.

Osmundsen has created an amazing and horrifying world in which people must choose thought over words. In a short amount of stage time, Make Way gives us a glimpse into a book-burning dystopia, where demanded allegiance to authority is far more destructive of souls than it is to physical matter.

I saw this play performed at the Midwest Dramatist Conference and was immediately drawn in to Osmundsen's dystopian world. It's both a nod to the past and an eerie vision of a future that doesn't feel too far away. It definitely made me want to go home and read a book!

A fascinating vision that feels eerily prescient: What if we came to burning books, how would that feel, to the ones tasked with their destruction? Osmundsen asks hard questions, within a comedic lightness - that's the genius and the heartbreak of this play - that the moment of loss is lived by these genuinely warm, funny people. A compelling, terrifying world, beautifully constructed and carried to conclusion.

Love this script! What an interesting situation Osmundsen sets up here, showing one of the deepest flaws in humanity. Too often our need to get along with others goes against what we know deep down is right. Fascinating script and very well done!

Everybody thinks they would be the hero if faced with actual authoritarianism, but in real life we stand silently while it creeps up on us. We have jobs to do, mouths to feed. We're just trying to get by. "Make Way" takes this reality to its logical conclusion in a way that feels frighteningly prescient.

A powerful story of life under an authoritarian regime and the casual way we can go along to get along until it happens to hit a soft spot in our heart. A book may be burned, but at what cost?

What would you do in this dystopian society that Osmundsen has set up? Would you burn books if forced, if that was your only means of surviving and earning a living? Do some books -- and ideas -- deserve censorship? This apocalyptic sci find drama challenges its audience while at the center telling one person's struggle to burn a beloved book from boyhood.
I had the pleasure of seeing this read at the 38th Annual William Inge Festival. Give it a read today.
Highly recommend for a festival on censorship or sci-fi themes.

A powerful script, directly centered on censorship but more broadly about enforcement of totalitarian ideas. Though we don't find out much about the characters backstories (in fact, they don't even have names), we get glimpses. This, plus strong dialogue choices bring three strong identities to life. This piece says a lot, especially in our troubling times.