←Recommendations of The Sentence - 10 Minute Play

The meanings of justice and punishment are so wonderfully complex in Ryan Kaminski's THE SENTENCE. It's the sign of a remarkable play when the audience is able to connect with the viewpoints of disparate characters, and the ending leaves both heartache and hope. Also wonderful is the ability to stage this play live for an audience and also as an audio play.

A nicely understated, surprisingly tender ten minutes that gets at some big questions - what is justice, who gets to enact it, and what does it do to our souls? The play doesn't present any of these characters as being "right," but allows them all to have their own, equally understandable points of view.

Kaminski is a strategist concerned with how the audience receives the play. From the character breakdown forward, he does a great job in The Sentence creating reveals that keep us involved, with dramatic question after question, so that as the play unfolds we receive maximum enjoyment even as our allegiances shift. Well done!

A play that really explores the meaning of justice, and how some have confused justice with revenge. The devastation of a heinous crime has many victims, and this play makes it all present.

A short play that makes you walk a mile in someone else’s shoes. Revenge, justice, the dual nature of the human animal, father/son relationships, and ultimately compassion for others are some of the complex themes packed into a perfectly crafted ten-minute play. Great for the stage, radio, or Zoom.

So powerful. These are the parts of the criminal justice system we need to think about, but don't really want to. We get so wrapped up in "justice" and "eye for an eye" we don't see the collateral damage. How do we get to this point as humans and how do we better ourselves as well? This play is just a snapshot, but we see so much more. We feel so much more. And we want so much more...for everyone.

Sobering and devastating at the same time. Ryan Kaminski creates characters who are coming together for a specific purpose, but with completely different motivations. When one attempts to connect, he finds out just how different those motivations are. And what is so satisfying is, even after that, the understanding and commonality come to the fore. Well done.

The mark of a good play is leaving the viewer/reader with a desire to see more of the characters after the end. So it is with this play: a case of the plot being too big for the 10-page format. Well-paced, sparsely drawn, and the ending has been nailed.