←Recommendations of Contact

This play is a love letter for the digital age -- for young folks whose social development was deeply impacted by a year or two of interacting on screens, and for those of us who are just a little socially awkward to begin with. Pisaturo explores what technology gives us and what it might take away in this smart, tight, one act play.

Two boys - Owen (the astronaut), introverted and unsure of himself, and Jasper (the alien), cocky and assertive - find themselves falling in love so long as it's from the safety of a laptop screen. But when Jasper attempts to visit Owen in "real life," Owen's fear overwhelms him and the chance for friendship and more is left in doubt. Will the boys come together at the end? The resolution is unsure in this beautifully written, well-paced one-acter (about 45 minutes by my estimate), but I'd like to think the outcome is positive for both.

Brilliant. Just frickin' brilliant. But then again, I never expect anything less from Pisaturo's writing. "Contact" is a tight, bittersweet, painful LGBT drama. An exquisitely poetic (and still entirely natural) look at self-discovery, teen intimacy, and technology as a whole. It examines the ways tech can both bring us together and distance us with a gut-punching honesty. The dialogue is heaven, the characters are full of juice, and the premise is more timely now than ever before. Significant, crucial, a new classic! Read this, produce it, perform it! "Contact" is great theatre!

In this beautiful, tightly-written one-act, Pisaturo explores loneliness, connection, and identity formation in the digital age. Owen and Jasper are two well-written and distinct characters that speak with their own rhythms and vocabulary. Even while just reading this play on the page, I felt as if I had a great sense of the visual/aesthetic world of the piece, and it presents an excellent opportunity for some poignant and beautiful staging and affecting lighting. At turns funny, poignant, melancholy, and intimate, this would be an excellent showcase for two strong actors.

Michael Pisaturo has given us two young men in the throes of discovering themselves, and in doing so shows us a part of us that we all know regardless of age, of gender, of identity: the hardest thing to do is touch someone else. This play does this in an achingly beautiful way; with honesty and genuine feeling.

The need for human contact in the digital age is explored with great intimacy and insight in this beautiful gem of a play. Featuring two terrific roles for LGBTQ teens, this coming of age story should be a mainstay in short play festivals everywhere.