←Recommendations of We're Just Redoing The Kitchen

In one of my favorite plays, Maddie does a remarkable job with balancing the absurd and the brutally realistic. The Yogurt. The View. The Hands. They will stick with me forever. Must be produced immediately.

A hilarious, theatrical piece that is original in form and content. The core familial relationship in this play is nuanced, human, and funny--the humor all coming organically from Skyler, Helen, and Dave's conflicting needs and wants. Loved how the absurdity around the theatricalization of the renovations mirrored the tensions and attempts to come together by the family. I also appreciated the narratives present here that aren't often given a place in theater--namely, women in sports and the social and personal expectations related to that. I'm eager to follow this play's developmental trajectory!

This engaging, highly theatrical piece straddles the line between absurdism, magical realism, and metaphor to create a dynamic picture of an exceptional family in crisis. We've all heard stories about an athlete who gets injured and has to rethink everything about their future. The genius in this script is that, after a period of struggle, the athlete is more or less okay. Instead, this piece is about her parents and what they lost (or, more aptly, what is left) when they believed their sacrifices amounted to nothing. It's creative, compelling, and full of visually exciting surprises! A genuinely original play!

The community of National Committee readers for the 46th Bay Area Playwrights Festival advanced WE'RE JUST REDOING THE KITCHEN as a Semi-Finalist at Playwrights Foundation. We were deeply moved by this fresh approach to the high-pressure world of competitive sports as Skylar attempts her comeback. We were highly engaged by theatrical potential which blended heightened theatricality and staging with genuine moments of vulnerability, as characters have to cope with moving forward after dreams have been shattered. We hope this play is considered for further development and investigation, and finds dedicated collaborators in this play’s journey towards production. #BAPF46

Ahhhh this play was so fun! Such a dynamic family trio to follow through quips and hilarious passive-aggressive dialogue that cracks you up! The fact that there’s hands coming through the metaphorical kitchen destroying and remodeling things is one of the most creative things I’ve ever read! Every character involved would be so fun to play as an actor. On top of that, the stage directions and descriptions sound casual, but are actually very meaningful and intentional. Lots of tension and you’re engaged throughout!

Omniscient Barbara Walters, disembodied hands, and the hanging cloud of Corporate Sponsorships swirl together in this delightfully theatrical exploration of what it means to deconstruct and reconstruct a kitchen. Or a body. Or a family. Everything (!!!) in this play crackles. The dialogue rides a hilarious but sharp line as newscasters joke about putting Skyler down "like a deer." The tension of Skyler's injury permeates every scene–– testing her physical limits and the family's optimism. Striking images of anonymous hands poke and prod Skyler through kitchen construction, physical therapy and into a new (though delicate) comeback. I love this play!