←Recommendations of MABEL TALKS

  • The Depot for New Play Readings: MABEL TALKS by Donna Hoke
    “

    In Donna Hoke’s “Mabel Talks,” the silent film star Mabel Normand addresses the producers and directors who shaped and stymied her career. While this engrossing one-woman show introduces audiences to a brilliant comedian who has been forgotten, in Hoke’s deft treatment, the play delivers more than a biography. By letting Mabel speak for herself, Hoke depicts Normand as a strong-willed artist, at turns funny, flirtatious, and combative, and so richly imagined, she charms us with the charisma that made her one of the first film celebrities of the 20th century. A gem for actors. Highly...

    In Donna Hoke’s “Mabel Talks,” the silent film star Mabel Normand addresses the producers and directors who shaped and stymied her career. While this engrossing one-woman show introduces audiences to a brilliant comedian who has been forgotten, in Hoke’s deft treatment, the play delivers more than a biography. By letting Mabel speak for herself, Hoke depicts Normand as a strong-willed artist, at turns funny, flirtatious, and combative, and so richly imagined, she charms us with the charisma that made her one of the first film celebrities of the 20th century. A gem for actors. Highly recommended.

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  • Samantha Marchant: MABEL TALKS by Donna Hoke
    “

    Having been a film studies minor in undergrad, I wish Mabel Normand's name rang a bell before reading Hoke's script, because Hoke's script makes it clear, Normand she deserves it. Hoke takes us on an in depth journey into the Female Chaplin's life and career in this one-person show. Capturing her personality, her relationships and history with a deviceful use of props, Hoke pays excellent tribute to this cinema great.

    Having been a film studies minor in undergrad, I wish Mabel Normand's name rang a bell before reading Hoke's script, because Hoke's script makes it clear, Normand she deserves it. Hoke takes us on an in depth journey into the Female Chaplin's life and career in this one-person show. Capturing her personality, her relationships and history with a deviceful use of props, Hoke pays excellent tribute to this cinema great.

    ”
  • Sarah Tuft: MABEL TALKS by Donna Hoke
    “

    A fully entertaining and loving portrait of silent film star Mabel Norman, MABEL TALKS is both biography and quiet commentary on misogyny’s power to limit, even destroy, exceptional talent. More so, Hoke accomplishes this with great humor and without a moment of exposition or a hint of proselytizing. A master class in how to craft a fully engaging solo show, Hoke makes brilliant work of stagecraft - blocking and set pieces - to give us an easily producible one-woman show that any actor would love to get her hands on.

    A fully entertaining and loving portrait of silent film star Mabel Norman, MABEL TALKS is both biography and quiet commentary on misogyny’s power to limit, even destroy, exceptional talent. More so, Hoke accomplishes this with great humor and without a moment of exposition or a hint of proselytizing. A master class in how to craft a fully engaging solo show, Hoke makes brilliant work of stagecraft - blocking and set pieces - to give us an easily producible one-woman show that any actor would love to get her hands on.

    ”
  • Matthew Weaver: MABEL TALKS by Donna Hoke
    “

    This one-woman show offers all Hoke's signature hallmarks in their finest form: An in-depth look beneath the surface of a Hollywood starlet's life and career.
    Here Hoke gives Mabel Normand, the female Charlie Chaplin, the first woman ever to be tied to a railroad track, her chance to share her story, and it is riveting. Hoke does a thorough examination and an enviable job of putting Mabel's life in the context of the time and setting (misogny and sexism are ever-present). A star of the silver screen, long ignored and forgotten, unearthed, and Hoke gives her back her voice.

    This one-woman show offers all Hoke's signature hallmarks in their finest form: An in-depth look beneath the surface of a Hollywood starlet's life and career.
    Here Hoke gives Mabel Normand, the female Charlie Chaplin, the first woman ever to be tied to a railroad track, her chance to share her story, and it is riveting. Hoke does a thorough examination and an enviable job of putting Mabel's life in the context of the time and setting (misogny and sexism are ever-present). A star of the silver screen, long ignored and forgotten, unearthed, and Hoke gives her back her voice.

    ”