←Recommendations of Hazard Pay

Lainie Vansant covers a lot of emotional ground in this short play. A lovely, timely, all-too-real piece.

This play is one of the realest, most relevant I've read in a long time -- and I wish that weren't the case. Lainie Vansant does an incredible job capturing the fear people face constantly working jobs like these, and she manages to weave in the beautiful dramatic tension of an everyday family about to face a huge change. Not to mention the dialogue has a lovely natural flow to it. I feel like I already know these characters, and I pray everything works out for them.

A young couple sits down to what seems like a normal, simple dinner -- and what happens is anything but normal or simple. In the brief span of ten minutes, Lainie Vansant evokes tension between two people who love each other -- a tension that can't be escaped in today's America. Fear, safety (especially of children), and parental roles become a recipe for poignant conflict that resonates with the times. Well done!

An empathetic and beautifully-crafted conversation between two people that evolves into something much deeper, broader, and challenging. Vansant wisely conceals Jess' job for the majority of the play and the subtle reveal of what it is caused a catch in my throat. The question of whether or not it's safe to bring children into the world we've created - with all of its violence - provides a deep undercurrent of hope and dread, raising the stakes on the conversation, and causing it to linger in our minds. Masterfully done.

A delicate and taut conversation, tense, and deeply real. Where is the intersection between ambition and safety? Vansant explores a tough subject from multiple perspectives, with dialogue that feels at once nuanced and effortless.