←Recommendations of The Activist

Contemporary online discourse has taken words such as “trauma” and “gaslighting” and applied so many situations to them that their fundamental meanings get lost. “The Activist” surgically and sharply examines how meaning and intent of the words we use impact our personal and professional lives. Several fantastic monologues here (the one about the meaning of “Beauty and the Beast” is particularly amusing) and an approach to the use of language that is both cautious and incisive.

Words have meaning. But in our politics, in the groups we identify with, words and meanings often become corrupted. So how are we to communicate honestly? Ricardo Soltero-Brown, through his own creative wordplay, examines the consequences of how we manipulate our language. A fascinating work.

Ricardo Soltero-Brown is a master at dialogue. The way in which he captures the essence of conflict in sharp exchanges and elaborated deep philosophies in weighty monologues is amazing. Here were have a glimpse of the dynamics of relationships, both personal and public. Darkly humorous and deeply enlightening, this play is a great read and should be onstage.

Starting off with sharp staccato speech The Activist continually confounds the readers/audiences expectations as it leads them on a dextrous verbal dance. It's a sharply observed dark comedy which shows all too depressingly that in an era of far right insurgency across the globe a divided left is not providing a cogent enough response. It's a timely and necessary play.

Ricardo Soltero-Brown writes theatre that is bold and relevant, and this play is no exception. This dark comedy is accompanied by the horrors of the political machine. It is layered exceptionally, not giving anything away early and letting each moment play out with the interest of the audience staying with the piece the entire time. The Activist is sharp, frightening, and funny.

The play opens with a long scene about the horrors of domesticity; not through discovering some kind of seedy surreal underbelly like in a Lynch film, but in staring the domestic promise straight in the face. Talk about sexual politics gives way to discussing horrors seen on the news.

This is not life.

The second half of this play is a painfully real examination of the intersection between leftist infighting and relationship issues.

Somewhere between this: a monologue about the sexual conquests of a mythical "Bill" who wrote the story of Jesus —  a serious highlight for me.

Strongly recommend.

“Two people can have the same goal and disagree about how to get it.” This sentiment, spoken by THE ACTIVIST’s ardently truthful protagonist, is a dangerous one to speak aloud. Olive’s constitutional inability to conform—her reluctance to couch her real feelings, curb her need for specificity and clarity, or deny her messy humanity—is her fatal flaw in what feels like the first “tragedy of manners” I’ve ever read.

Soltero-Brown’s funhouse-mirror reflection of the left eating itself is written with dead-pan humor, searing intellect, and unflinching vulnerability. It’s a necessary play.