←Recommendations of New Oleanna

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!

A fascinating delve into the intricacies of power-play dialogue with discussions that need to be held on stage! Loved the intensity of this show and hope to be able to see it staged soon.

I will be blunt. When I read the title, I didn't want to read the show, but I was so very wrong. Barr's two-hander is an intense dialogue and exploration that audiences and, maybe more importantly, theatres need to experience! Brilliantly written, easy to produce, and a story that needs to be shared now.

This play demands a talk-back. And a talk-back to that talk-back. Barr has written a magnificent two-hander about who controls the narrative. With apt criticism of the entire industry, but especially that of academic theatre, “New Oleanna” is the show we need right now, five years ago, and probably five years from now. Beneficial for any theater, big or small!

NEW OLEANNA takes on the task of causing harm within the complicated power structures of our society with a great amount of care and intelligence. It investigates the idea of intent and impact, including holding a magnifying glass up to the often repeated phrase "intention doesn't matter" and asking the characters (and the audience) to dig a bit deeper. This is an incredibly complicated play tackling incredibly complicated ideas, but Barr handles it expertly. You can't walk away from this play without talking about it for the rest of the evening.