←Recommendations of Come Again

If ever we needed a Second Coming, even a "relentlessly, annoyingly cheerful" one, it would be now. A chance to put things right. And if anyone were to put it into words, like unwilling prophet Marina finds herself having to do, to speak for Jesus, it would be, it IS, Lisa Dellagiarino Feriend. "I like that you’re holding onto a bygone era..." I like that this playwright can attack so many charged topics as well as her character does. "God’s not flooding the earth. You people are." Lovely. Charming and gut-punchingly funny. Classic.

Obsessed. I am obsessed with Lisa Dellagiarino Feriend. COME AGAIN is so smart and funny and abrasive and I love everything about it. I can't imagine anyone having an opinion about climate change and a possible second coming of Jesus, right?! This play has a strong message and would be an absolute conversation starter with any theatre that produces it. So, please produce it, and let me know when you do!

Lisa Dellagiarino Feriend's brilliance lies in her character development and razor-sharp dialogue. Marina, the hospice nurse, grapples with an unexpected mission as Jesus himself claims she's God's climate change prophet. Feriend weaves humor, mystery, and supernatural elements, leaving us on the edge of self-destruction. Nice work, Lisa.

COME AGAIN is an excellent comedy with a political bend to it. It tackles the topic of global warming while dealing with how it disproportionately affects marginalized communities. All while being a very funny show. It is an impressive script. The characters are beautifully realized with much depth. There were quite a few moments that had me laughing out loud. Great work!

Dellagiarino Feriend’s full-length play, “Come Again” features characters that are fresh, endearing, with a premise that’s timely and critically important. What she does so well here is the switching back and forth between high humor and sobering reality. It’s a really funny play about a really terrifying subject. It’s a marvel how she is able to deftly weave in so many relevant complicating factors that illuminate the complexities of the climate crisis. Race, class, regionalism, religion, capitalism, each receive their due. This is the kind of smart, effective theatre I like to see. Well done.

A well-crafted and timely play. We are drawn into the story of Marina -- we root for her, we care about her -- and we worry for the world -- but we can't help ourselves from laughing. Well done.

I grew up attending a Baptist church, but did not learn how many denominations of Christianity there were (including my own) until high school. My first reaction was anger, because I saw it as fighting over wording, instead of the spirit of the bigger picture. It's what we're doing now, and the bigger picture is that no matter our beliefs of how things are or should be, we're running on less and less and less time on this planet. Feriend's play is pitch-perfect, timely, hopeful, and grim, comforting the eco-grief, and confronting our inaction (or denial) at the same time.

The community of National Committee readers for the 46th Bay Area Playwrights Festival advanced COME AGAIN as a Semi-Finalist at Playwrights Foundation. We highly enjoyed the premise of a hospice nurse from Florida being called spiritually to save the world from climate change disaster, written with strong comic pacing. We were engaged by the stylistic blending of comedy with contemporary issues and faith, as Marina tries to resist her calling. We hope this play is considered for further development and investigation, and finds dedicated collaborators in this play’s journey towards production. #BAPF46

Dramaturgically, the way to tell a story about climate change is to shrink it. This is a tiny story about big issues, in which the stakes are intimate and personal - the "big issues" are LITERALLY the background noise to the profoundly human story of Marina, the most likely unlikely prophet. In the end, "Come Again" is a sharply funny, smart, and searingly ironic parable about the ways we twist the narrative to avoid discomfort—and a compelling argument for facing our fears for the greater good. It's a painful, hopeful, honest, and fast-moving piece that doesn't slow down.

When I was young I always felt that Jesus was like the Jesus in Come Again. One you could talk to and love and who would help you through your troubles just like the one that Marianne sees. One who maybe would put you through the specific trials, but one that would be there to help you through them all while you built the confidence for the task at hand. Funny and laugh-out-loud funny at first this play takes a tragic turn that is as emotional as it is surprising and unfortunately true to the way the world is today.