Recommended by Debbie Lamedman

  • Debbie Lamedman: The Mirror

    We all have that negative voice in our heads. We all know what it’s like to feel disgusted with ourselves, and then try to mask it out in the world. Swenson’s “The Mirror” is a theatrical parable that shows us how our lives can change if we simply accept the person we see in the mirror. Using magical realism is highly effective as we catch a glimpse of three people unknowingly searching for something within themselves. The Mirror tells them what they already know, yet validates them in the way they need. Wonderful piece to edify an audience!

    We all have that negative voice in our heads. We all know what it’s like to feel disgusted with ourselves, and then try to mask it out in the world. Swenson’s “The Mirror” is a theatrical parable that shows us how our lives can change if we simply accept the person we see in the mirror. Using magical realism is highly effective as we catch a glimpse of three people unknowingly searching for something within themselves. The Mirror tells them what they already know, yet validates them in the way they need. Wonderful piece to edify an audience!

  • Debbie Lamedman: GATEWAY

    Memory is unreliable. And the memory of what happens to two people who were both in the same situation is never the same. We each have our own perceptions of what happened. Lockhart has created an intriguing play that brings up so many questions. The piece is succinct, yet ripely full of details and we are left to form our own opinion of what happened that fateful night thirty years ago. Each character is so certain that what they remember is the accurate version. This is a timely piece and provides two strong roles for dynamic actors! Excellent work!

    Memory is unreliable. And the memory of what happens to two people who were both in the same situation is never the same. We each have our own perceptions of what happened. Lockhart has created an intriguing play that brings up so many questions. The piece is succinct, yet ripely full of details and we are left to form our own opinion of what happened that fateful night thirty years ago. Each character is so certain that what they remember is the accurate version. This is a timely piece and provides two strong roles for dynamic actors! Excellent work!

  • Debbie Lamedman: NIGHT OF A THOUSAND SIPS

    Charles Scott Jones puts you right in the driver's seat with this piece. It's a very human condition to fight off addictions with justifications that "one more sip" wouldn't do any harm. I felt Wendy's tension throughout the entire monologue and would love to know more about her struggle to stay on the program. This could be the beginning of a solo piece about women and alcoholism. Whiskey sours are extremely hard to resist!

    Charles Scott Jones puts you right in the driver's seat with this piece. It's a very human condition to fight off addictions with justifications that "one more sip" wouldn't do any harm. I felt Wendy's tension throughout the entire monologue and would love to know more about her struggle to stay on the program. This could be the beginning of a solo piece about women and alcoholism. Whiskey sours are extremely hard to resist!

  • Debbie Lamedman: Mixed Signals

    This 5-minute duologue is intriguing from the start and Kantor pulls you in to the intrigue before words are spoken. The piece left me with many questions (which is a good thing in my opinion!) Is Katherine speaking in metaphor or truth? Is “alien” code for “queer. “ It’s fun to think about and I hope Kantor plans to write more about these two characters. I would love to see them and learn more about them in a longer work.

    This 5-minute duologue is intriguing from the start and Kantor pulls you in to the intrigue before words are spoken. The piece left me with many questions (which is a good thing in my opinion!) Is Katherine speaking in metaphor or truth? Is “alien” code for “queer. “ It’s fun to think about and I hope Kantor plans to write more about these two characters. I would love to see them and learn more about them in a longer work.

  • Debbie Lamedman: A Slice of Chhena Poda

    This short two-hander is a delightful twist on a common trope. Plumridge has created recognizable characters and an endearing relationship between a mother and son. This is a fun and playful piece; I would love to see it on stage.

    This short two-hander is a delightful twist on a common trope. Plumridge has created recognizable characters and an endearing relationship between a mother and son. This is a fun and playful piece; I would love to see it on stage.

  • Debbie Lamedman: Sound Mind

    How do we ever say goodbye to our loved ones? Knowing our time is up doesn't necessarily make it easier. Dana Hall's "Sound Mind" is a beautiful, heartfelt goodbye that incorporates all the things that life is made of ... pathos, humor, longing ... The piece is honest and real and will tug at your heartstrings. Being very close to this situation in my own life, this monologue holds even more meaning for me, but the message is universal. Love is love, and death doesn't always have to mean goodbye.

    How do we ever say goodbye to our loved ones? Knowing our time is up doesn't necessarily make it easier. Dana Hall's "Sound Mind" is a beautiful, heartfelt goodbye that incorporates all the things that life is made of ... pathos, humor, longing ... The piece is honest and real and will tug at your heartstrings. Being very close to this situation in my own life, this monologue holds even more meaning for me, but the message is universal. Love is love, and death doesn't always have to mean goodbye.

  • Debbie Lamedman: Big Ben and the Juice Fast (10 Minute Play)

    Pamela Morgan brilliantly captures the insanity of deprivation and dieting in this delightful two-hander. Anyone who has been caught in the grip of an overeating binge in the middle of the night will be able to relate to this piece. Although I have retrieved food from the garbage, I’m ashamed to say, I don’t know if I would ever be able to polish off an eclair from the clutches of a dead cockroach. But you never know! Desperate times and all that. I wince at how much I relate to this. The writing is superb! Well done!

    Pamela Morgan brilliantly captures the insanity of deprivation and dieting in this delightful two-hander. Anyone who has been caught in the grip of an overeating binge in the middle of the night will be able to relate to this piece. Although I have retrieved food from the garbage, I’m ashamed to say, I don’t know if I would ever be able to polish off an eclair from the clutches of a dead cockroach. But you never know! Desperate times and all that. I wince at how much I relate to this. The writing is superb! Well done!

  • Debbie Lamedman: One Small Step

    In the auspicious year of 1969, men landed on the moon, and that same summer, another breakthrough occurred with the Stonewall Riots. Aronovitch skillfully juxtaposes these two events as they become the apex for two ex-lovers struggling to see each other's point of view. Gripping, moving, and poignant, One Small Step is a dynamic two-hander. This glimpse of history shows that though some progress has been made, we still need to continue the fight for equal rights. And at its core, the love story here is moving and hopeful.

    In the auspicious year of 1969, men landed on the moon, and that same summer, another breakthrough occurred with the Stonewall Riots. Aronovitch skillfully juxtaposes these two events as they become the apex for two ex-lovers struggling to see each other's point of view. Gripping, moving, and poignant, One Small Step is a dynamic two-hander. This glimpse of history shows that though some progress has been made, we still need to continue the fight for equal rights. And at its core, the love story here is moving and hopeful.

  • Debbie Lamedman: The Auden Test

    The Auden Test is a stunning piece of writing that, for this reader, initiated a whirlwind of visceral responses. We see Auden giving a lecture on poetry in 1954, but would rather memorialize his dearly departed friend, Alan Turing the mathematician. In dual monologues both internal and external, we witness the complexities of poetry, mathematics, and love Auden and Turing faced during one of the most explosive periods of world history. This piece would be a tour-de-force for any strong actor, and the evocative nature of the play would have audience members discussing it long after the curtain...

    The Auden Test is a stunning piece of writing that, for this reader, initiated a whirlwind of visceral responses. We see Auden giving a lecture on poetry in 1954, but would rather memorialize his dearly departed friend, Alan Turing the mathematician. In dual monologues both internal and external, we witness the complexities of poetry, mathematics, and love Auden and Turing faced during one of the most explosive periods of world history. This piece would be a tour-de-force for any strong actor, and the evocative nature of the play would have audience members discussing it long after the curtain closes.

  • Debbie Lamedman: Mar Kelly

    This piece stayed with me long after I read it. It’s poetic in its simplicity, yet at the same time the play illustrates the complexities and confusion of these modern times. Mar Kelly, like so many of us, thinks change will come if we just get on the darn bus and go somewhere new. But we also know that’s not how change works. With this play, Peter Anthony Fields has created an allegory for our modern times. Read it. Produce it. And learn what it has to teach you.

    This piece stayed with me long after I read it. It’s poetic in its simplicity, yet at the same time the play illustrates the complexities and confusion of these modern times. Mar Kelly, like so many of us, thinks change will come if we just get on the darn bus and go somewhere new. But we also know that’s not how change works. With this play, Peter Anthony Fields has created an allegory for our modern times. Read it. Produce it. And learn what it has to teach you.