←Recommendations of The Play You Want

Cubria does a fine job of writing both a love letter to the theatre, and also calling it out for all the injustices it upholds. I also hold experimental clown plays and Gilbert Cruz in high regard, and I look forward to laughing a lot when this play gets fully produced.

There is not one false note in this scathingly witty, furiously savage love letter to a contemporary life in the theatre. Magical, realistic, hilarious, deeply angry – Cubria fires on all cylinders here, hitting bullseyes with every epigrammatic gem (“It’s basically porn for progressives” is just one of the jaw-droppingly funny lines); the total is more than the sum of its parts, and it’s a winner on all counts.

If you work in Theatre, or want to, I guarantee this play will make you laugh and think. It's a searingly funny, fearlessly honest roast of the American Theatre (and the playwright), but like all good roasts, it's a love letter in disguise, as hopeful as it is cynical, as tender as it is scathing, with an uncanny ability to make you look inward and outward at the same time. At any given moment in this play, there's a great punchline, an elucidating insight about artistry, and a metric ton of fun waiting in the wings.

Hilarious, biting sharp satire with a couple of profoundly poignant moments, "The Play You Want" is a spectacular piece that I hope to see have a long life. It manages to capture the very specific nuances and complexities of Bernardo's experiences as a playwright while also resonating with other folks from so-called marginalized identities who are forced to compromise aspects of themselves to succeed and achieve recognition in a white, Euro-centric society. The satirized real human beings are priceless (both funny to insiders and hilarious enough caricatures to entertain the masses) and the theatricality of act two is wonderful.

Contemporary American Theatre better *look out*, because this play is a game-changer. Cubria deftly sends up every racist trope in this personal, political romp. Why can't the playwright just enjoy writing experimental clown plays? And what does it even mean to be "successful" in a field where you can barely make a living, even at the top of your craft? How do our successes begin to corral and shape your voice, and what kind of world do we want to make for our kids? With huge humor and scathing wit, Cubria pulls no punches in this unforgettable new play.