←Recommendations of Any Port in a Storm

I love Aly Kantor’s writing. This short play is funny and sweet, with two lonely people who seem very different on the surface, but are incredibly similar deep down. My favorite part was the sharing of personal information, which got more and more vulnerable as it got more and more rapid fire. I would love to see a whole full length play with these two characters.

The power of vulnerability reveals these two seemingly different people may have more in common than they thought. The stakes are high throughout as they shift from external to internal. A wonderful piece with themes of acceptance, hope, and connection. Seeing it staged was wonderful. The candles, the storm, the way the actors started so far a part physically and soon closed the gap over a series of questions. Very beautiful. Aly writes authentic and touching pieces this is definitely one.

Aly Kantor's lovely opposites-attract one-act, Any Port in a Storm, puts two strangers between a hurricane and a storm of their own making. We don't quite get the full 36 Questions, but over the course of the play, Hector and Paige become vulnerable with each other in delightful and unexpected ways. True love can take time, but chemistry just needs a bit of a spark -- and boy, do those sparks fly. What a terrifying situation, what a beautiful play.

Reading a romantic comedy from Aly Kantor means investing in characters who who are never just types. Paige and Hector have brains, needs, skills, weaknesses, senses of humor, depth, and weird hidden corners -- and watching them find and explore each other's as they also decide how much to reveal of their own is a charming pleasure. The impending hurricane serves as an effective ticking time bomb and lovely metaphor for what's brewing; and scattered among the great naturalistic dialogue there lie stunning little poems -- one line in particular simply took my breath away.

I really enjoyed reading this -- so clever, witty, and fun! These two were a perfect recipe for this unexpected interaction!

Oh wow! The sexual tension builds as fast, as intense, as powerfully as the hurricane that's about to hit Paiges home! There is no time to talk, yet they do, in great detail in order for there to be some love, in order to....
But do they in time? Or do they have to flee the impending storm. This is very clever, unique, I love it! Aly at her best!

This high tension romance is unlike any I have ever read. Both characters have real stories and issues to work through and it only brings them closer together. Meanwhile the clock of the impending hurricane ticks louder and louder in the background. A wonderful start of a relationship story!

ANY PORT IN A STORM is a sweet romance reminiscent of the best of John Patrick Shanley: that is, two broken people (with surprisingly complimentary damage) coming together despite their best efforts to push love away. Kantor’s storm provides high stakes and urgency, as well as an apt metaphor for the fear of heartbreak versus the fear of loneliness; it’s terrifying to drive recklessly out into the storm, and terrifying to face the danger alone.