←Recommendations of The Profession (Full-length play)

The Profession tackles the institutionalized patriarchy of our highest and lowest institutions while following the struggles of two women trapped within them. Eppich-Harris has written two powerhouse female roles with ample room to shine. Their complex stories overlap and intertwine, and their journeys to empower each other are riveting.

I also appreciated Eppich-Harris' skill in the character of Paul. Like Uncle Peck in Vogel’s How I Learned to Drive, I almost felt sorry for him and the consequences he will face.

An incredibly relevant story full of heart and humanity. Highly recommended!

"Higher ed has become some kind of capitalist hellscape," Valerie says in this excellent play about the compromises liberal arts professors are called upon to make when which programs survive is determined by cost-benefit analysis. Corrupting academic politics, petty vindictiveness, ethical lapses, blackmail--all kinds of intellectual prostitution are on display, as is the traditional type available at the nearby strip club. Eppich-Harris's well-drawn characters find themselves in soul-sucking workplace situations that may seem all too familiar to people in nearly any profession. Will any of them emerge with their humanity intact? Highly recommended.

Given her impressive background in English literature, it is not surprising that Marcia Eppich-Harris’s “The Profession” is brimming with the stuff of great literature: morality vs. self-preservation, ambition, finding purpose in our lives, all put together in a strong story with fully developed characters. Eppich-Harris explores these themes while revealing the disheartening state of higher education. I wish I had a professor like Dr. Hardy (or Dr. Eppich-Harris) when I took Shakespeare and Milton as an undergrad.

"The Fall is just another kind of creation." When I was in my undergrad, administrators sought to cut costs and ravage our college of arts and letters. The Kentucky governor of the time talked solely about STEM's ability to find jobs. There's piles upon piles of unfortunate truths in THE PROFESSION. From patriarchy to capitalism, the world is much more complicated and harsh than we like to confront. It's messy. One could argue it's a place made by an asshole. And yet Eppich-Harris takes our fallen world and commits an act of beautiful creation. Wonderfully done.

In “The Profession”, the seedy under bellies of two career paths are exposed, but just which profession is more corrupt isn’t entirely clear. Gender, class, and capitalism all collide resulting in a paradise lost, one that perhaps never was. Set to a smart, literary backdrop, Eppich-Harris hands down this authentic indictment of academia. A truly well written play. Highly recommended.

Power dynamics, reproductive health, sex work—this play covers a lot of ground without ever feeling like it’s stretched itself too thin or losing nuance.

The characters in Marcia Eppich-Harris’s THE PROFESSION feel fully fleshed and ground the play as it navigates the ways that power dynamics and hypocrisy have become entrenched in academia. Sometimes there are no easy answers. Eppich-Harris really packs a punch in this honest and heartbreaking (yet still hopeful) play.

A heart wrenching piece about human desires and morals, set in the world of academia. Stakes are high and defined. Tightly written and gripping, Marcia Eppich-Harris pulls us into this journey that we will think about long after the play is over.

A wonderfully wrought play about the decline of the humanities (sad face) and humanity, a brew of hypocrisy, dubious morality, and patriarchal double standards that plays out in the perfect location: a struggling academic institution. Eppich-Harris clearly knows the world she's writing about, and Valerie's turmoil is heartbreakingly real.

Every once in a great while, we’re lucky enough to bear witness to a piece of theatre that feels inevitable, where the characters are so specific and their conflict so authentic and so powerful that you can’t imagine it unfolding any other way. This is one of those plays. I raged with Valerie at the erosion of her idealism and passion for teaching; my heart broke at the Sophie’s choice that Marina faces. Like the Shakespearean tragedies Valerie teaches, each beat of this pitch-perfect play leads us inexorably to its haunting conclusion.

In the current climate where higher education has become more interested in the bottom line, the sharing of knowledge has lost its currency. Eppich-Harris delineates this distressing turn of events with heartbreaking precision and clarity in her terrific play "The Profession." Smartly written, with compelling – and complex – characters, this is a work that has a lot to say, and says it exceptionally well.