←Recommendations of Secret Ingredient

Love this. Short but definitely not sweet except in the aftertaste of revenge. I caught Miranda Jonte's June 22 "Back Porch Theatre" reading; she captured Mabey's subtext perfectly. Super writing. A few brush strokes and voila! Love the human being Mabey has created, someone whose quiet life and love are sneered at by an adult bully but they get their cake and they make their bully eat it too.

This is a terrific, acid-tipped monologue that stings and burns even more in retrospect. Read it, listen to it at least twice.

With barely a nod of exposition, John Mabey makes the backstory and the stakes for Jules and the unseen audience abundantly clear.

I loved the June 22 performance of "Secret Ingredient" on Back Porch Theater on Facebook. Actor Miranda Jonte was brilliant in letting viewers feel Jules' tumultuous emotions although they were strongly under wraps. I gasped at the suddenness of the ending and its devastating insinuations.

The veiled everything here is reminiscent of Strindberg's THE STRONGER. I do love subtext and Mabey's piece is a goldmine. Everything feels more dangerous with this kind of indirect-yet-direct address and only writers so clear in knowing what they want to say- and how- are successful at it. Home run.

What a spicy nugget of ambush browsing at a bake sale. To make an obvious pun, the final line is biting.

Ooo! I am glad I stumbled upon this monologue! I love the strength in which Jules controls this narrative in just a few biting words. The recipient of these words will most definitely want to eat a whole tray of cookies after enduring this sneak attack! Deliciously baked, displayed and sold!

In less than half a page, John Mabey gives us a richly realized character in Jules, whose warmth, wit and hurt come through in every word of this brief but powerful monologue. The final line cuts with razor-sharp precision.

An engaging little monologue that uses an unlikely, yet oddly perfect, metaphor for marriage. As always, Mabey’s heart and generosity of spirit shine through the deft writing.

A short-short monologue that does so much, revealing through subtext and detail a distinct character that will leave you smiling.

A one minute monologue loaded with tasty metaphor and more than ample sweetness to go around. SECRET INGREDIENT is rich with subtext and a wonderful confectionary delight for an actor to perform. Would love to see this performed at a one-minute play festival.