Recommended by David Hansen

  • Heartbreak at the Putt-Putt Palace
    3 Nov. 2019
    Funny, charming, fast-paced, and sweet, this short play on relationships and commitment features sympathetic, likable characters (even the difficult ones) in a timeless conundrum. A perfect addition to any short play festival.
  • Fear the Americans
    3 Nov. 2019
    We are terrible and this short play is hilarious. I want to produce this play in the middle of Public Square, or maybe on a corner in the heart of the theater district, guerrilla-style. I want it to just happen, really loud, and watch people's reactions, because it's so grotesque as to be hopeless believable. Which is sad. But hilarious. Five stars!
  • The Final Problem of Sherlock Holmes
    2 Nov. 2019
    Stewart distills the essence of Doyle's creation while maintaining a brisk pace and energy, this efficient drama is a thrilling adaptation featuring the world's greatest detective. Literate without being wordy, witty and active, this is a hearty Holmesian adventure, arcing to a great sense of dread and doom, and resolving with a satisfying release. Also, created with attention to the financial limitations of modern theater, it has been craftily composed to accommodate a compact set and a relatively small company. Recommended!
  • Gratuitous Nudity (by Roland Tec & John Yearley)
    1 Nov. 2019
    A delightful series of frank monologues on the subject of body issues featuring numerous varied and interesting characters. Characters in various forms of undress express complicated issues relating to self-confidence, the male gaze, phobias, told with refreshing candor, humor and pathos. Ideal for a fast-paced, intimate cabaret setting. Recommended!
  • In Touch
    28 Oct. 2019
    A psychological drama for two actors, blurring the definitions of intimacy and consent. The word-play between these two men of different generations, involved in a sex-for-pay relationship, is at once hot and warm, at turns humorous and at last, quite sinister. Great short play. Recommended!
  • Baby Grand
    28 Oct. 2019
    A delightful short play, like a great vaudeville sketch, featuring snappy bickering between two hapless brothers. A great addition to an evening of comic vignettes.
  • First Day in Trade
    28 Oct. 2019
    A charming exploration of the effects of fame on the psyche of "ordinary" people who work in their orbit, and the sometimes terrifying challenges of self-scrutiny and doubt. A hopeful reminder that judgement cuts both ways, and that we are all human, after all. Recommended!
  • Monica Before & After
    14 Oct. 2019
    Ho’s brief but expansive short play shows how what we value, what we think we value, and what we say we value can be entirely different things. One talented performer could make a successful solo performance of this, playing all the roles. Insightful and satisfying. Highly recommended!
  • A Play about David Mamet Writing a Play about Harvey Weinstein
    1 Oct. 2019
    Brilliantly aggressive, transgressive, dangerously hilarious, biting, aching, and outrageously spot-on, Dratwa’s play must be produced tomorrow, everywhere.
  • A First-Draft Second-Rate Love Story
    30 Sep. 2019
    Saw this in performance at Cleveland Public Theatre, and it is simply hilarious. Busser tweaks the collective nose of his fellow playwrights with this witty, crafty account of staging a new work and how we bravely push through it, no matter what. (In the spirit of full disclosure I have myself held a reading of a new work and provided the wrong draft ... twice.)

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