←Recommendations of STAND

We are pleased to support this play! It was a Finalist for the 2019 New Works Festival at Kitchen Dog Theater in Dallas, Texas.

A highly theatrical play-poem of fury and healing. A play that examines the individual burden of assault while reminding us of the importance of community in dealing with trauma - a narrative that is so often missing. A brave play which feels both ancient and of this very precise moment.

Caridad Svich's STAND draws from contemporary culture, classical Greek dramatic structure, and takes on gender and power in the form of a chorus that unpacks individual and group oppression. I heard a terrific reading of this play in late 2018 voiced by three women that evoked the world of women through millennia, and specific events in a murky current time. A story in prose poetry of the "brutes" and the "brutalized" that shines with righteous hope.

I can't recall a play in recent memory more fearless and honest in its structure, language, and content. Caridad Svich unabashedly taps into the psyche, and creates a play that is utterly unique and demands to be seen and heard. I can't commend her enough.

A beautifully poetic take on a brutal reality in our world, which is what makes this piece and theatrical expression so effective.

Sometimes there are plays so good, I wish I'd written them; STAND is one of those plays. STAND is a play that should be enacted after every rape in every community as a healing and a cleansing and a teaching and a way to end brutality against womxn forever. STAND is a sacred ritual like the ancients created so vital and so true, I am grateful to be able to recommend it as highly as is possible.

This is what people mean when they refer to theatre as a spiritual experience. Svich uses poetry and music to tell this gripping, heart-wrenching story that is like the ones belonging to so many women. This play is a primal scream of rage and I'm glad Svich has channeled it into vital art.

Wow. STAND just punched me in the gut and left me in pieces. This imaginative piece is so beautifully written that it highlights how infuriating victim-blaming and dismissiveness can be. I would love to see this staged. Amazing parts for women exploring rage and misogyny. Caridad Svich's voice is so desperately needed during these divisive times.

STAND is such a powerful piece with endless creativity and exploration. Svich's poetic language contains a power and emotion that brings chills. It is a story of questioning and defiance. Cassandra's experience makes us wonder what is "justice" and what is like to not be heard. It is an exploration of action and rage in the most viscerally beautiful way. I can't think of a piece that reflects the times that we are living better than this one. It gives womxn the power to stand tall: like sunflowers.