←Recommendations of failing at a 1-page play festival

I love John's work. Especially his fascination with the Lord of the underworld. A truly fun piece that just brings home what every playwright knows. Or thinks they know. Deep inside. Where no one can see the disappointment. But still they try. Fools.

The smothering joke is so great! Would love to see this included in a 1 minute play festival.

I just KNEW who was to blame for zoom play festivals! This hilarious satire will appeals to fans of new plays (and fans of Satan) and anyone who has been rejected. Sympathy for the Devil has never been so funny!

I love the genius that Satan invented Zoom readings! For what? A punishment or penance? We wonder. Could the world, and particularly aspiring wordsmiths have misread Old Nick all these years? Oh no, at the very last, he comes true to his biblical form. And all of this in one page...genius!!!

A richly dark comedy, it raises the question many ask: How do you write a one minute play? The irony is, of course, that Mabey succeeds at the form here (as he does with all his works), and quickly conveys the Faustian deals playwrights may be willing to make for the sake of their art. In the end, Mabey wins the top prize.

A powerful little play that will so resonate with all the writers in the room! Fast, fun, and spot on! Thanks, John Mabey, for making my Monday morning!

At least this play got a hit in the production circuit because Mabey nails it with a capital P and A for the pain and agony it is to be a writer, and also the pain and agony of submitting to these festivals. But he also nails what it is to be a community that do support each other and have each other's back until they don't. I'm sure there's a little Satan in all of us in the end.

A one-page hoot, playwrights and audiences alike will enjoy.

It should be absolutely no surprise to anyone when John Mabey reveals that not only is Satan responsible for all those rejections you get every year, but that he came up with the concept of Zoom readings in general. In one of those 'if you don't laugh you'll cry' pieces, the truth of what we do is laid bare in a sobering, funny manner.

The absolute best commentary on Zoom plays I've heard comes from Mabey's brilliant short. The writing criteria given in the play aligns so well with the unfolding action. A fun ride.