←Recommendations of All is Calm

The Christmas season is not all presents and cookies and Sickles gentle reminds of us this. The pressure of the holidays and the general nostalgia that comes with it brings up reminders of feelings that never quite went away. A beautifully told tale that is relatable to far too many.

Vulnerability is an incredibly freeing force even though it may hurt. Captured here is a relatable case of unrequited love during the time when the most pressure is upon us to have perfect lives. Well done.

A very realistic look at Christmas for those who suffer the pain of unrequited love and loneliness during a season of celebration. The characters are brilliant; the dialogue and tempo are razor sharp. A must read!

Bittersweet and melancholy in its suggestion that it is near-impossible to find true connection in life, and its sadness is only exacerbated by being set at the most miserable time of the year. I love plays that explode the sentimentality attached to Christmas and expose the loneliness that so often really exists. (How's that for three X's?) But there are laughs here too, as in naming a baby Nebuchadnezzar. Actors must also decide whether to pronounce Basyl and Basil identically or differently. I vote for . . . .

What a beautiful play! Sickles writes here with his usual penchant for clear, compelling dialogue, sharp rhythm and strong dynamic flow and pacing. We've got all that structure, perfectly dialed. But then there are these two characters, richly-detailed, fully-realized - it's masterful to see them wrought from just a few lines, a few phrases back and forth. This play offers actors a playground of emotion, on the most weighty of holidays. A truly transcendent piece of theatre.

All may be calm, but it certainly isn't bright in this melancholy, poignant, and gut-wrenching stunner from Scott Sickles. Okay, things aren't all that calm either, at least not underneath the surface, which is where this play lives. Every single line pierces the soul with the fear, longing, sadness, and hopelessness of two people who just can't bring themselves to face a rejection that's not going to happen, but believe will. Laced with many moments of bracing Sicklesian wit throughout, "All is Calm" is a holiday gift; perhaps not the shiniest, but certainly one of the most touching, and beautiful.

The very definition of bittersweet. The very model "if only" scenario.

Sickles starts this tale of friendship with humor through small talk and genial gossip. But the conversation deepens, emotional truth pours out and there's a sense of vulnerability ... before self-doubt and fear shut it down. And the audience experiences the bittersweet tone. The audience knows what would happen "if only." And the audience will ache for Doug and Garrett.

Welcome baby Nebuchadnezzar!
Boy, does a Sickles play pack a wallop! He gets it, he really does. About unrequited love, about the failure to connect; about loneliness, during the holidays or during ordinary time.
ALL IS CALM finds strength in the melancholy and captures these emotions so they are written down for future generations to read and acknowledge with knowing nods. (That said, all right, Universe, we get it! Enough already!)
Selfishly, I'd love more Sickles plays written just as the year changes. But, Universe, it'd be an even better tradition if his loving fella told him, "Wait until tomorrow."