←Recommendations of The Last Week

What a beautiful play this is. We often romanticize end-of-life scenarios but The Last Week avoids any of that. Our end will come how it comes and whoever is there is who's there. It reminds me to think about the people in my life while I have it and them.

Jessie Salsbury's terrific snippet of a life, THE LAST WEEK, makes you lean into the conversation and question whether anyone is really, truly, ever ready to go.

Jessie Salsbury's "The Last Week" is an honest look at what it means to live and the die, and living with the choices you've made in life and the consequences therein. Honest and unflinching in it's storytelling, this is a showcase piece for two actors, espically an older actor, and a chance for them to shine and make interesting choices.

An unflinching look at the end of a life, without a drop of saccherine in it. Jessie Salsbury's play, which I saw in a reading at the Midwest Dramatists Conference, has lots of sympathy for its characters, even when they have none for themselves. It turns death into an action, something the character can decide to do through sheer willpower alone. Very moving. Well done.

Jessie Salsbury's look at the last act of a life is tender, but with just the right amount of practicality that it makes the audience appreciate the moment as an honest assessment of his life. There may be regrets, but he is facing them and the end with his eyes wide open to the end. There's none of the five-stages trope unless you take into account that John is the one making the bargaining worth it.

Saw a reading of this touching piece at the 2023 Midwestern Dramatists Conference and was taken by the characters and their situation. Death hangs in the air but it doesn't cast a pall -- instead, it makes the characters seem more alive and honest than they would normally be. The short play makes you think as well as feel, and that's quite an accomplishment in just ten minutes. Bravo!

I've seen readings of this play at the 2023 William Inge Theater Festival and the 2023 Midwest Dramatists Conference. Both readings were fantastic -- and just different enough from each other to show that Salsbury has crafted a great work that provides actors and directors a range of options, while still ensuring her own voice carries through. Really strong, memorable characters in a situation that allows them both to shine.

So happy to have seen this at the William Inge Theatre Festival New Play Lab! A meditative piece on death and dying that gives an audience the opportunity to reflect on our own mortality. Though, the piece is never dour. Through the character's acceptance of his situation and the compassion showed to him, the audience is able to accept an aspect of our lives that we often avoid. A very human and humane piece!

I had the great privilege of producing this play for my Audio Play Podcast "Theatrical Shenanigans" and its a play that stands to speak to audiences on many levels. The idea of loss, the idea of regret at the end and mistakes made are something that can linger in the mind and that is what Jessie's characters discuss as John debates with his healthworker. Its wonderfully written piece that was a joy to produce and I can imagine it will be just as good, if not better, with a live performance!

What a poignant and moving interaction between health caseworker and patient. Not everyone has someone in their end hours, but here, the kindness and dignity given by a non-family member is just what is needed. A touching piece for any 10 minute festival.