←Recommendations of Birdseed

I hereby join the bandwagon of praise for BIRDSEED by John Mabey. John effortlessly packs so much into a 10 minutes play that you feel you would know these three characters if you saw them on the street. Without giving anything away (especially a beautiful twist at the end), this is a family play about loss, grief and the future - and will leave you happily in tears. Cheers to Mabey!

Mabey writes a ten minute play like a full length play filled with the complexities of life's brutal curves and adds joy too, and a rom-com arc! What a wonderful play this is! Read it and weep, and cheer!

This intimate, three character short play says so much in a very short time. We care about these characters and what they have gone through and what they are going through. It is a "fill me up" piece with heart and tears.

Joni Mitchell wrote, “Laughing and crying, you know, it’s the same release,” and Mabey proves that truth so beautifully in this emotionally bountiful short play. The relationships brim with love, despite the deep-seated scars, and the hopefulness at the end is so palpable it defies you outright not to smile. Mabey is such a generous writer, giving so much to both his characters and his audience. BIRDSEED is definitely a gift.

BIRDSEED defies the convention of the overly-focussed, simplistic short play and instead offers a rich three-way character interaction that resonates. I love the thematic tension between planning and spontaneity and how even the structure reflects that tension. Yeah, feed the birds!

Mabey’s short play weaves complicated characters, complex situations, and cathartic emotions into a poetic and poignant look at love and loss. With memorable roles and moving revelations, BIRDSEED soars, providing plenty of food for thought.

Wedding planning scenarios can be interesting setups for confrontations and revelations because the stakes are generally high, not just for the couple getting married but for all members of the families involved. New beginnings can spark memories of people we have lost who will be missing from the proceedings. The birdseed offers a way to honor a missing family member in a touching way, offering the prospect of new life. I could relate to Mabey’s play. It rang true on many levels.

We all grieve in our own way and sometimes the only way to deal with it is to push it aside, pretend it's not there, and try to think of something else. But in this tight and intimate play, John Mabey shows how people who are very close in one way are miles apart in another; reconciliation, even acknowledgement, seems hard to grasp. And yet...

This play touched me on many personal levels, and I know it will to a wider audience, which is deserves so much.