Recommended by John Minigan

  • John Minigan: On the Eighth Day of Hanukkah My True Love Gave to Me

    A sharp, funny, and truly moving play in which the best kind of holiday miracle happens--cynicism meets its match in the power of love. Yes, maybe oil can last eight days, but it's love that can endure and light our way much longer.

    A sharp, funny, and truly moving play in which the best kind of holiday miracle happens--cynicism meets its match in the power of love. Yes, maybe oil can last eight days, but it's love that can endure and light our way much longer.

  • John Minigan: Drummer Boy

    This little gem of a play is both a reality check (for my least favorite holiday song) and a laugh-out-loud delight! Maybe, at last and thanks to Lisa Dellagiarino Feriend, the song will fade from the holiday, even if it didn't fade for Joseph, Mary, and the kiddo. Like that famous family, we could all use a little peace and quiet.

    This little gem of a play is both a reality check (for my least favorite holiday song) and a laugh-out-loud delight! Maybe, at last and thanks to Lisa Dellagiarino Feriend, the song will fade from the holiday, even if it didn't fade for Joseph, Mary, and the kiddo. Like that famous family, we could all use a little peace and quiet.

  • John Minigan: ALEXANDRIA

    A powerful play that is such a gut-punch, especailly in the time we're in and the times we're entering. There is rage, there is compassion, there is acknowledgement that conversations can only take us so far. But most of all there is the essential question of how we will survive our times and our fragmentation--and what, if anything, will survive with us. A necessary play that should be produced all over in 2025

    A powerful play that is such a gut-punch, especailly in the time we're in and the times we're entering. There is rage, there is compassion, there is acknowledgement that conversations can only take us so far. But most of all there is the essential question of how we will survive our times and our fragmentation--and what, if anything, will survive with us. A necessary play that should be produced all over in 2025

  • John Minigan: Dough

    This gem of a monologue moves beautifully and joyfully from dissatisfaction with self to a kind of wonder, a wonder that comes with beginning to discover your possible self rather than "proving yourself to yourself (or anyone else)." The arc of the piece provides a great opportunity for the actor to dive into and build on both uncertainty and positive possibilities. Lovely work!

    This gem of a monologue moves beautifully and joyfully from dissatisfaction with self to a kind of wonder, a wonder that comes with beginning to discover your possible self rather than "proving yourself to yourself (or anyone else)." The arc of the piece provides a great opportunity for the actor to dive into and build on both uncertainty and positive possibilities. Lovely work!

  • John Minigan: Yours Until Niagara Falls

    Yours Until Niagara Falls is stunning in both its simplicity and its depth. Like Gurney's Love Letters, it uses a series of letters (and digital communication) to trace a complex relationship over time, but it is refreshing in its honest, sometimes quirky, sometimes devastating portrayal of female friendship over time. The play's structure allows for a large or small cast to portray Lina and Izzy, and it is a testament to the strong, resonant writing that it would work equally well as a play for young audiences (and actors) or as a two-hander for adults.

    Yours Until Niagara Falls is stunning in both its simplicity and its depth. Like Gurney's Love Letters, it uses a series of letters (and digital communication) to trace a complex relationship over time, but it is refreshing in its honest, sometimes quirky, sometimes devastating portrayal of female friendship over time. The play's structure allows for a large or small cast to portray Lina and Izzy, and it is a testament to the strong, resonant writing that it would work equally well as a play for young audiences (and actors) or as a two-hander for adults.

  • John Minigan: Romeo & Her Sister

    I had the great pleasure of seeing the premiere production of Jillian Blevins' often funny, richly imagined, and highly satisfying Romeo & Her Sister. The play captures the complexity of its three central characters – sisters Charlotte and Susan Cushman and Sally Mercer – as they struggle to navigate their relationships with one another, with their identities, and with the world (theatrical and otherwise) around them. At the same time, it centers an important piece of queer history and provides a compelling portrait of the challenges and ultimate joy and power of even difficult sisterhood.

    I had the great pleasure of seeing the premiere production of Jillian Blevins' often funny, richly imagined, and highly satisfying Romeo & Her Sister. The play captures the complexity of its three central characters – sisters Charlotte and Susan Cushman and Sally Mercer – as they struggle to navigate their relationships with one another, with their identities, and with the world (theatrical and otherwise) around them. At the same time, it centers an important piece of queer history and provides a compelling portrait of the challenges and ultimate joy and power of even difficult sisterhood.

  • John Minigan: Right Field of Dreams

    I was lucky enough to see this brilliantly crafted, hilarious and heartfelt play in Boston Theater Company's Queer Voices fest. It was the perfect way to end the evening--with joy, love, hope, and more than a little magic. Kaplan gives us a young player unsure of his position in the field and in his family who, because of the generosity of an unexpected figure from baseball history, is able to let his mom/coach know which team he's playing for. It's a short play that hits for the cycle.

    I was lucky enough to see this brilliantly crafted, hilarious and heartfelt play in Boston Theater Company's Queer Voices fest. It was the perfect way to end the evening--with joy, love, hope, and more than a little magic. Kaplan gives us a young player unsure of his position in the field and in his family who, because of the generosity of an unexpected figure from baseball history, is able to let his mom/coach know which team he's playing for. It's a short play that hits for the cycle.

  • John Minigan: Little Black Dress

    I was lucky enough to see this lovely play as part of Boston Theater Company's Queer Voices festival. John Mabey has carefully crafted a heartfelt and positive piece about the challenge of revealing identity and the way that true love means true acceptance. It's a subtle piece that speaks big and hopeful truths.

    I was lucky enough to see this lovely play as part of Boston Theater Company's Queer Voices festival. John Mabey has carefully crafted a heartfelt and positive piece about the challenge of revealing identity and the way that true love means true acceptance. It's a subtle piece that speaks big and hopeful truths.

  • John Minigan: Un Hombre: A Golem Story

    Un Hombre manages to be powerful and intimate, searing and funny, steeped in the tradition of Golem stories and also as new as yet-to-be-shaped clay. Kaplan gives us nuanced and fully-felt responses to grief, from anger and denial to the ways we can learn to reconnect to the world and one another. Just as Rebecca sculpts new life from clay, the play creates a renewed mother-child relationship from the pain and shared love they feel. Beautifully wrought.

    Un Hombre manages to be powerful and intimate, searing and funny, steeped in the tradition of Golem stories and also as new as yet-to-be-shaped clay. Kaplan gives us nuanced and fully-felt responses to grief, from anger and denial to the ways we can learn to reconnect to the world and one another. Just as Rebecca sculpts new life from clay, the play creates a renewed mother-child relationship from the pain and shared love they feel. Beautifully wrought.

  • John Minigan: Heist!

    Heist! is an absolute delight! It's funny and resonant for all of us who have felt ourselves a little (or a lot) overmatched for the situation we've elected to be in, and the brilliant pivots the characters make are hilarious--what a treat for the actors. If I'm ever robbed, I hope it's by Billy and Gene. This piece will be a hit in any short play festival.

    Heist! is an absolute delight! It's funny and resonant for all of us who have felt ourselves a little (or a lot) overmatched for the situation we've elected to be in, and the brilliant pivots the characters make are hilarious--what a treat for the actors. If I'm ever robbed, I hope it's by Billy and Gene. This piece will be a hit in any short play festival.