←Recommendations of The Mission

[2026-03-22]

Carl Hiaasen no longer owns the market on insane satirical Florida-related stories. "Abort: The Mission" is a brilliantly funny play about a tragically serious topic. Lisa Dellagiarino Feriend brings her deft comic touch and penchant for writing fully realized, complex characters to this full-length play that was an absolute hoot to read. I'd love to see this on a stage, because I fear it will be timely for longer than it should be.

How can you take on a serious and consequential topic, and make it into a marvelous comedy? You REALLY NEED to read “Abort: The Mission” by LISA DELLAGIARINO FERIEND. It’s a hoot, yet instructive in a funny way. I really enjoyed reading this full-length play. I would encourage directors and producers to read and then produce this play. You will definitely have audiences laughing out loud and talking about “Abort: The Mission” long after they’ve enjoyed the performance.

After seeing JESUS OF NAZARETH, I wanted to read more of Dellagiarino Feriend's work. This play is on fire. ABORT: THE MISSION is necessary piece that allows us to laugh at our bitter plights. The comedy allows for audience members to reflect but also to walk out with a cathartic exhale. In the times we exist today, theater should be pushing all the boundaries in every possible way. This is the play to lead the way!

A tour de force. Theaters should be tripping over themselves to produce this play, ESPECIALLY RIGHT NOW. It makes all the necessary points about women’s rights, and it does so in such a hilarious way, navigated by characters who are just absolute messes, yet full of heart, which makes the satire land that much harder.
***gestures at everything*** is so STUPID right now, but Dellagiarino Feriend’s words are a lighthouse, a beacon, an oasis, a salve and an inspiration.

This writer gets comedy and has put together a very funny script that walks the line of good taste like good comedy should. Great beats, great jokes. There’s a sophistication to the humor that levels it up, really enjoyable. With a cast of pros, this dialogue would kill. Very solid, I would love to see a rollicking good time production. #BAPF47

The sitcom pacing of this show softens the reality of the oppression women are currently living under. But through laughter, this play is a mobilizer! This would be an Emmy winning episode of The Golden Girls! The characters are so fun, the lines zing and the audiences will love the physical comedy while their message literally and figuratively hits home. This is what comedy can do for society and I am so here for it!

Lisa Dellagiarino Feriend is a comedy genius! In this political farce, she manages to provide plenty of laughs while still making clear the seriousness of the current assault on reproductive freedom. No easy feat. But with the aid of the most enjoyable senior trio since The Golden Girls, Feriend strikes gold of her own. Abortion initiatives may not be on the ballot in every US state, but make no mistake, the issue is definitely on the ballot. Hopefully voting will prove a better choice than the scheme cooked up here.

It takes incredible skill and insight to write a comedy that addresses such important and complex issues as reproduction freedom and the agency of older adults. And in ABORT: THE MISSION, Lisa Dellagiarino Feriend expertly navigates it all with a story that entertains as much as it educates. This farce is grounded in such real emotions and realities, making the contrast even more powerful throughout. This is a play not to be missed written by an author with incredible talent and empathy.

A big play that explores an enormous problem in America -- with huge laughs, outsize (but always plausible) characters, gigantic twists and turns, and, as it happens, a heart just as giant. The scale of the situations and the comedy stands in terrific counterpoint to just how dire America is for women who want control over their own bodies. Simply wonderful work.

When a great wrong is perpetrated by the powers that be, it is up to the artist to retaliate with the tools at their beck and call. Lisa Feriend has answers the call to arms with a brilliantly executed smack to the face of current policy makers who so deserve a deep reckoning. The importance of the subject matter is met head on with blistering humor. As Mark Twain said “Against the onslaught of laughter, nothing can stand.”