←Recommendations of New Oleanna

Zach Barr's NEW OLEANNA explores all of the ways in which its characters try to dodge accountability, and in doing so, gives them nowhere to escape. It forces us to question how we think about power, and consider the consequences of power left unchecked. No moment is easy, but every moment is thrilling.

There's a moment in "New Oleanna" where the male student points out to his female professor that, in her office, she holds the power. While every reader and audience member can only bring their own experience to the text, the play feels like a condemnation of the current state of college power structures, particularly in theater departments. "New Oleanna" asks if there are different kinds of power, and what happens when mantras like "Intention doesn't matter" replace listening and empathy.

This play starts banal enough that by the time you notice its incisive grip, it's too late. I first learned of Zach Barr's NEW OLEANNA from their recent 3-hour case study of a regional theater company as exploration for good faith debate from their YouTube channel. I am quite familiar with OLEANNA, having worked on a production in 2019. Barr's NEW OLEANNA explores Mamet's themes for a post-MeToo audience incredibly well and explicitly raises brutal questions about being "one of the good men".

Read this script. It's acerbic and fascinating and just begging to be put on a stage. Highly recommend for actors, directors, and theater teachers who may want a text to pair with Mamet's original piece or to replace. Give Zach Barr your money instead, honestly.

Just electrically good! The intellectual is personal, the personal is intellectual, and it's just damn exciting to witness. Both characters are excellently crafted with a riveting dynamic you can't help but stare at as it crumbles and explodes. The play's only crime is it's going to make me do something I never wanted to do: read Oleanna.

An intriguing and insightful look at power struggles deftly told with a professor/student dynamic. Zach is one to watch!

This expertly written, perfectly-paced two-hander is so thoughtful in its exploration of power dynamics and the loaded question of "who gets to have the floor?" The repeated idea that intention is irrelevant when the outcome is harm speaks directly to the here and now. Zach Barr's voice is cutting, clear, and exceptionally unique; a brilliant storyteller.

New Oleanna thoughtfully explores power dynamics, theatre, higher education, gender, mental health, and more. Zach Barr has expertly crafted a two-hander that kept me thoroughly engaged throughout.

A fascinating exploration of masculinity and male privilege, gender and social expectations regarding more expansively, multi-layered power dynamics, and the tendency for ostensibly liberal-minded communities and groups to erupt in conflict and stymie true progress and forward momentum. Rather than indicting "Oleanna" (a play I'm admittedly not the biggest fan of!), it continues the conversation on it in a complex and nuanced and exciting way. The role of media and publicity also played an intriguing part in the action. I'm excited to follow this piece's developmental trajectory and would love to see it on its feet!

Zach Barr's masterfully written, brilliantly nuanced piece is more than just an inventive re-imagining of Mamet's controversial play, it's a biting indictment of the neoliberal hellscape that is undergraduate theater. Both characters are deeply flawed people, attempting to push outside of their comfort zone without hurting anyone along the way. But they are stuck in a collegiate system that prioritizes publicity and optics over the human beings inside - a system that pushes them against each other even as they try and find a solution. A really excellent piece that doesn't dismiss the original. If anything, it adds to it!