←Recommendations of ROUGH WATERS (a 10 minute play)

A very touching play about two strangers who meet and find they have a few things in common. Lots to ponder in this one.

I viewed a performance of this lovely play, where two people confront loneliness and some fears about how life will go on without loved ones. It is very moving, sweet and funny, and leads to a satisfying conclusion where the two comfort each other, moving towards what we would hope is a new and lasting friendship.

Characters who take the time to listen, loneliness unburdened, grief finally shared - a beautiful play highlighting what it is to be human. Rough Waters will stir your memory and help you offer gratitude for what is good in life.

There is a world of connection and possibilities between two strangers, especially if either takes a chance. In ROUGH WATERS, Marj O'Neill-Butler delicately and beautifully navigates the waters of this new encounter with a backdrop that is so essential to the story. Through memories and shared emotions, these strangers forge a new relationship that is full of both hope and promise.

A lovely meditation on loss of many kinds, all related to the heart. But don't be fooled -- there's movement beneath the quiet atmosphere. Movement toward a kind of healing through connection, however tenuous, and ultimately toward hope. There's a great deal of feeling packed into these few pages, a testament to the beautiful economy of the writing, and as always with the best plays, what the characters are not saying tell you far more than what they are. Had the pleasure of hearing this at the 2019 Midwest Dramatists Conference, and again reading it here.

Ms. O'Neill-Butler's dialogue is simple yet devastating and reminds us strangers are people too. A slow burn that takes the time it needs to unwrap the vulnerabilities of it's characters leading to a wholesome payoff.

Lovely, subtle, and yet unflinchingly grounded in the world of familiar sorrows, Rough Waters is a thoughtful piece that accomplishes so much in ten short minutes. The audience is bestowed a rare opportunity to see a true-to-life relationship begin and develop in that time, with all its specifics and awkward moments. Silence plays a key role in the piece, providing plenty of opportunities for audiences to sink into O'Neill-Butler's gorgeous dialogue.

A beautifully restrained play about an unlikely friendship formed during a short ride on the Staten Island Ferry. The very real characters open up to each other with tentative caution at first, until the empathy that unfolds blooms. The playwright implicitly understands her characters and it shows in each measured line of dialogue.

Unlike most plays, the action and pacing is intentionally slow with silence and stillness for reflection. All of this allows for a relationship and connection to build in a natural way like in real life.
It's an astounding play on loss, memory, and communication.

Watch here for what a gifted writer can do with almost invariably short, simple sentences, even fragments. The tempo of this piece is extremely slow, the dynamic level extremely soft, as each character speaks as reticently as possible until some degree of trust has built up and each reveals something: an adulterous relationship (she), the loss of a mother (he). The prognosis for these two after the boat docks is unknown; the age difference is intentional. But for the moment, the two are united in a common goal, to cast mom's ashes into the Bay.