←Recommendations of exceptional

The community of National Committee readers for the 46th Bay Area Playwrights Festival advanced EXCEPTIONAL as a Semi-Finalist at Playwrights Foundation. We found this to be powerful piece that doesn't shy away from the heightened constrast of joy and pain, performance and heartbreak. We feel the writer's voice was confident, with intimate knowledge of the world these characters live in, and the pacing, tone and themes are all there. We hope this play is considered for further development and investigation, and finds dedicated collaborators in this play’s journey towards production. #BAPF46

It's unreal how great this play is. "Unreal" feels like the exact right word to describe a piece that traffics in memory, reality, naturalism, surrealist moments ... but the whole thing feels complete and ACCURATE. Really, really wonderful writing of sharp characters finding themselves in tense and hilarious situations. Woot.

The Workshop Theater is pleased to recognize May Shealy as a playwright selected out of a competitive pool of applicants for our Fall 2021 Writer’s Intensive. The Writer’s Intensive is an eight-week long, playwright-driven process geared towards revising an existing play. Exceptional is not afraid to look pain in the face, whether that be the pain of pageantry, the pain of losing a friend and love, or the pain of being a teen. May handles this dark queer epic with grace and a deft hand. Our congratulations and thanks to Mak.

Shealy subverts the guady pomp and circumstance I associate with pageant culture by placing headline-making scandal at the doorstep of its competitors, and then leading us through their paths to acceptance and recovery. What comes from this method is a queer epic for generations young and old about trying to capture a moment in time, nurture it, and keep it as one's own. It was a pleasure to witness this script's development in The Workshop Theater's Fall 2021 intensive, and a privilege to read the final product.

Do you like true crime, beauty pageants, and BIG QUEER ENERGY? Of course you fucking do. And that means you'll love this play. In "exceptional" Mak has created a world that feels both off-balance and hauntingly familiar... and it absolutely sparkles. Come for the mystery of Addie's disappearance. Stay to be haunted by the ghosts of your own perfectionism.

Every time I read a play by Mak Shealy I am more awed and impressed by how big they go. I love this dark, queer story. What struck me most in this play that revolves around a missing missing girl is how Jay's biggest fear is not that Addie might be dead, but that she may have chosen a life without them. Filled with Shealy's haunting poetry-you'll never hear dialogue like this in any other play.

Stop what you're doing right now and ask Mak to send you this play!!! Mak has crafted a stunning look into the world of beauty pageants that is also a fascinating character study and a damn good mystery play. The use of the Chorus is inspired and I loved the way gender and sexuality is portrayed in this world. Memories blend into present day beautifully as we join these characters as they reflect on where they've come and the great things they are heading towards.