←Recommendations of Ridgway

Hairy and haunting with gorgeously spare dialogue, this play’s craft is palpable at every turn. The emotional core of the script is subtle and misty and dark, with so many foreshadowings that whisper into the final world-reinventing scene. I adore this play and would be *thrilled* to see it onstage!

This play is excellent! The dialogue is exceptional and highly artistic, at times cleverly emulating the chatroom language of Facebook Messenger and/or Grindr, but mostly adopting a truthful naturalistic patter. The characters leap off of the page. The playwright maintains a high level of tension throughout that never evaporates and works well to sustain a Baker-esque longer piece. Part of the tension is borne from the plays' highly theatrical elements, including a possessed walkie talky and several interesting time and body jumps. Themes run the gamut of pressing issues faced today. Produce/Develop this play!

From beginning to end this play feels like a taut rope that is beginning to fray. The naturalistic dialogue and clears characters are juxtaposed with this overwhelming sense of danger. Daniel in particular is fascinating. The tensions between what he wants, what he accepts, and what is fulfilling is palpable."

Charlie O'Leary has blown me away with this fascinating and unforgettable examination of sexuality, race and the need to belong and be loved. It's dark and it's eerie and it's powerful and it's a perfect reflection of issues that resonate as strongly today as ever. Put this show on it's feet.

Oofffff. What a great play -- a powerful, deeply personalized story about large issues and how they intersect with individual lives. On the page, the piece is so strong; I can imagine it being multiple times stronger fully realized (so, theaters, get on it). I intend this as high praise: Man, would I love to direct RIDGWAY.

A haunting and compelling piece! I read this in one sitting quite easily. O'Leary has captured realistic speech well, mimicking the irregular rhythms of how people talk. All of the characters go on compelling journeys, Daniel in particular. An eerie atmosphere pervaded the entire piece as it explored outsidership; belonging; and race and sexuality in a rural environment in a powerfully intersectional way. The soundscape and visual/spatial sense of the play also makes me feel like this would be an original and unsettling heightened theatrical world on its feet. I'm eager to follow the trajectory of this piece!

In Ridgway, O'Leary has created an experience; an eerie road trip through America's past and present that experiments with different forms of communication, whether remote or direct. Chilling, intriguing, and persistently relevant.