Recommended by Paul Donnelly

  • Pistachio Ice Cream
    17 Mar. 2024
    What a touching meditation on the power and the fragility of memories. Helen is the delicate link between her late grandmother and her granddaughter. The connection among these women is real and heartfelt and the dialogue is powerfully engaging. May the craving for pistachio ice cream never abate!
  • The Girl Who Could Talk to Birds
    16 Mar. 2024
    What a hoot! The animals guiding Nora and Patrick are full of pragmatic, if somewhat lewd, advice. These are not your typical saccharine fairy tale woodland creatures which is what makes this play so riotously funny. A treat for actors, designers, and audiences alike.
  • THE LITTLE GIRL DOWN BY THE LAKE
    16 Mar. 2024
    The sense of menace grows slowly but inexorably in this tightly composed, eerie piece. The family dynamic depicted is real and engaging. The ghost depicted starts out a benign presence, but oh how things turn. The narrative is gripping throughout and the ending offers a real gut punch.
  • My Father Is...
    14 Mar. 2024
    Meeting the parents is a right of passage in most relationships. Ken finds himself in an particularly discomfiting position regarding his beloved's father. The build to the first reveal is a comedic masterpiece. Ken's uncomfortable interview with the father forces him to make a major choice. The final image left me to wonder if the choice was enough. This play masterfully blends comedy and suspense and held me riveted throughout.
  • Eesha's Dilemma
    13 Mar. 2024
    Fariq's obstinance makes life difficult indeed for Eesha. There is real texture to their exchange and a realistic unresolved ending.
  • Is This Franks Phone?
    13 Mar. 2024
    What seems like an amusing character study becomes something much more menacing at the finale. I admired the solid comic build to the sinister ending.
  • Dear Bertie (A letter from a mother to her son.)
    13 Mar. 2024
    Somehow I kept hearing rim shots throughout Dear Bertie. It's a fun collection of amusingly groaner dad jokes.
  • Three Drunk Poets Find God
    12 Mar. 2024
    "Read. His. Poetry." Such a simple command, but one Charlie ignores in favor of his favorite pastime, drinking, There is much humor mined from Charlie, Will, and Em's failure to channel their namesake poets and in Charlie and Will's ultimate abandonment of their literary project. This is a most amusing alcohol-fueled spoof of academic pretensions meeting youthful folly.
  • The Sunset Train - 10 Minute Play
    12 Mar. 2024
    Wonderfully atmospheric and often lyrical, this play seduced me into believing it was going in a sentimental direction but it turned out to have taken me in quite another. Brilliant misdirection made the conclusion all the more surprising. Well-drawn characters kept me engaged from the start. It was a pleasure to be on the train with Natty and the Kid.
  • IT'S DEAD IN HERE ON TUESDAYS
    10 Mar. 2024
    How do we even recognize that we have entered the afterlife? The vivid fight between the Szubinski brothers offers the first startling clue. This play is filled with well-defined characters, most of whom have accommodated themselves to their new reality, and snappy, distinctive dialogue. David is fortunate to have met his demise on a Tuesday and we are fortunate to have this opportunity to explore it with him.

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