←Recommendations of Recent Impending Events

A lived-in, cozy but challenging parable of tolerance, active listening, and the spectrum of faith.

A smartly written play, debate, conversation that gives you an appreciation for those that speak without yelling, question without judging and listen when its hard. A thoughtful discourse emerges from a mild flirtation. A play where love goes beyond the attraction between people and jumps to love of the earth, love of faith, and love of the search for new knowledge.

I was all aboard this two-hander about strangers on a train from the moment it left the station. (Okay, enough railroad allusions.) This is a nice moment in the lives of two people with different faiths finding common ground in their differences and avoiding stereotypes and character tropes as they travel through the scenery that only enhances the narrative. Moments like these are to be cherished, and Nora Louise Syran does it so well.

12.20.24 - A smartly written faith vs science meet-cute that doesn't talk down to either side. While most people would inevitably take a hard stand following one doctrine and opposing the other, here the characters listen to one another and are willing to concede points where merited. These are well rounded characters, even if they (and I'm sure, you) don't necessarily share the same views. Nora Louise Syran gives us people we wouldn't mind waking up next to on a train. Read it, you'll see.

All life is dynamic, which means things change—they may change slowly, like rocks, but they WILL change eventually, under the right conditions. This quiet Christmas play creates the conditions under which a person might transform before our eyes, if only slightly. The interaction at the center of the play is sometimes tense but always kind, with the backdrop of the desert landscape grounding the story in marvelous metaphor. A transcendent moment of unexpected music ties the narrative together!

This is a play about yearning. Yearning for something bigger than ourselves. For a connection to the world around us and beyond. There are so many fascinating thoughts shared here. It left me feeling enlightened. And a little hopeful. And a little yearning to travel by train.

[2024-12-19]
Rarely do you see the tension between faith and science handled so deftly as it is in Nora Louise Syran's "Recent Impending Events." While the man flirts with the woman on a train trip, he makes it clear that his true love is the earth and all its natural beauty. This leads to a debate that, though familiar, takes unexpected turns and leaves the audience with plenty to think about.
This is a delightful two-hander I'd love to see on stage.

At once intimate and vast, this gentle, odd, erudite short play gives you a lot to sit with. Two strangers on a train wake up together, and Humanity’s place in the long sweep of geological and spiritual history gets debated while the coffee brews, and some of the earth’s (and America’s) great wonders flash by outside. Strange and lovely.

This short play didn't go where I thought it was going to, and it was a delightful surprise! A woman who has missed her stop on an overnight train and a geologist (my dad, also a geologist, would be thrilled with the representation!) have a long conversation about science and religion that is an actual dialogue instead of two people yelling at each other. Wouldn't it be great if real life could be like this? Lovely!