←Recommendations of alex getting better

Lang’s evocative, nuanced play shows us that memory may be imperfect for some but a memory of trauma is real to all. Denial, acceptance, wishing it away are all devices to try and heal. But Lang proves that healing is not easy. It comes at a cost. But that doesn’t mean one shouldn’t strive to cope, understand and try to pickup the pieces. The language is teen-speak, the reality is raw and the play unveils truths that should be heard.

I love how this story unravels; how it is told through different perspectives, but ultimately comes back around to Alex. As we take the journey with Alex from start to finish, we get to know her and feel her need to question her friends about the "something" that happened when they were all in middle school. Lang incorporates a type of poetry in introducing us to Alex's friends and letting us hear her inner thoughts. It's a well-told tale, told beautifully, and shows us how subjective memories can be. Wonderful work!

What a wonderful, tightly-written piece that explores the multi-pronged impacts of trauma that reverberate throughout one's life and relationships. I loved the framing of the piece with Alex's conversations with her therapist and the personal, theatrical monologues that punctuate her visits with each friend--the "what's going on inside/outside" dichotomy loads the scenes with weight and heft. Most importantly, Audrey illustrates just how different responses to a similar trauma can be and validates each and every response for all characters, which is helpful both for Alex's journey and for steering conversations about trauma towards healing and progress.

Many plays would take the plotted route, to show "what happened." This play goes for the feeling and emotion, showing the true devastation and healing that takes place in the aftermath of assault. The play is fair to every character, making it a complicated situation with no easy answers. A very admirable play.

This is a play for the #metoo era unlike any other play I've ever read about this time in history. It's important that we never know the details of what happened to these women in middle school. We don't need to know the details. We just need to know a male student did something awful to them and they are all still dealing with it in their own ways. I hope people will produce this play and not focus on what the man does and try judge it's severity but just believe women and give them the help they need.

I saw alex getting better in performance over a year ago and I've been thinking about it ever since. As we battle through this new era of recognizing sexual abuse in all forms, it is easy to forget the smaller stories. We read the headlines and the trending hashtags, but we don’t see the young girls sitting in circles at slumber parties wondering if what they felt was wrong. This play reminds us that what feels like the most insignificant battles can be the noblest and that only the long road to getting better, every victory counts.

An intense, "me too" era drama, sizzling with complexity and nuance. A perfect play for high school or college performers. It really delves into the many ways that victims remember and deal with their trauma. So grateful to be including this in Iowa State University's Student Directed One Act Festival!