The community of National Committee readers for the 46th Bay Area Playwrights Festival advanced HELLS CANYON as a Semi-Finalist at Playwrights Foundation. We were deeply moved by the play's ambition and brilliantly executed horror centering the explosions of generational trauma. We were engaged by the rich characters, haunting stylized theatricality, and extraordinary vision. We hope this play is considered for further development and investigation, and finds dedicated collaborators in this play’s journey towards production. #BAPF46

This piece has my favorite horror elements--a potent/volatile group of people who all manage to be well-defined put in a pressure cooker together, strategically released tension and dread, and some huge fireworks/overtures in its climax. Here, the horror elements (and character-driven scenes) are used beautifully to explore inherited identity-based trauma, privilege, family, and purpose in life. The final moments are delicate and haunting and hopeful--a dynamite combination that the horror genre often eschews in favor of ending on despair. There's also superb visuals within that'd work well with the genre--especially the uniquely theatrical shadowbox set described.