Recommended by Nick Malakhow

  • We Are A Masterpiece
    30 Aug. 2019
    Wow! I knew this would be affecting, but did not realize how often during reading I would ugly-cry on public transit! This play is a veritable masterpiece itself. The nuanced and so-carefully stitched together and chosen scenes were the ultimate example of powerful "showing vs. telling" in script writing. I felt even for the characters I disagreed with. Though this tale was fairly geographically and socially self-contained, it pulsed with such incredible universality and truth--really moreso than other canonical AIDS crisis plays that I've seen or read. I'm eagerly awaiting the chance to see this in production.
  • Deal Me Out
    29 Aug. 2019
    The residual casualties of the 2016 election--complicated or torn friendships and socio-political reprioritizing on an individual and group scale--are vividly on display here in engaging and nuanced characters. All of the characters are rendered with a subtle and fine paintbrush, and their personalities are illustrated so adeptly in their relationships to and way of engaging with gaming. The games and the characters relationships to them are skillfully handled metaphors! The twists and turns both make sense but are satisfyingly surprising. I love seeing the genesis and evolution of this social microcosm both in the past and present scenes.
  • Hyannis
    27 Aug. 2019
    A beautifully observed and heart wrenchingly told story. While it tackles a timely and urgent subject in opioid addiction, it does so without didacticism or preaching to either its characters or audience. Each character is so fully rendered. I love reading a quiet drama such as this that focuses on the tiny seismic shifts in life that lead to new understandings. Hope to see this produced soon!
  • WOMEN LAUGHING ALONE WITH SALAD
    26 Aug. 2019
    Astonishingly brilliant! This is an exquisitely vicious dark satire in which the inventive and wholly original humor is punctuated by some gutting truths (of course, these truths are fully on display in the satire as well, just skewed/skewered to oblivion). With an inventive and brilliant use of double-casting and outrageous stage directions that could be theatricalized in effective and unique ways, this piece is oh so theatrical as well. I sincerely hope I get to see a production of this some day soon.
  • Flight
    24 Aug. 2019
    A beautifully melancholy and unique slice of life. What a brilliant setting and use of that setting, and what vividly drawn and compelling characters. The scenes move briskly and, for such a quiet piece, it's filled with well-earned and surprising turns.
  • Idawalley
    17 Aug. 2019
    I was privileged to see a reading of this in Boston last year--Ida is a compelling and complex protagonist. Like any good historically informed piece of literature, this made me eager to learn more about Idawalley Lewis, while still providing a satisfying snippet of her life. The sizeable supporting cast is well-developed, and the play gives voice to a kind of subtle and nuanced narrative not commonly given airtime. Would love to see this play's continued journey!
  • Two Below Zero
    17 Aug. 2019
    I love how this piece is simultaneously whimsical in concept and execution, and grounded by its multi dimensional characters and poignant late-play twist. I was lucky enough to see a reading of this in in Boston. The unabashed, quirky humor and punny wordplay of the first 2/3rds of the play paid off as it came to a more sobering conclusion. These contrasting sections painted a unique portrait of two sisters' evolving relationships to one another and their own identities.
  • WORLD CLASSIC
    17 Aug. 2019
    What a breath of fresh air to feel seen and heard by a small, nuanced, domestic drama, the likes of which the white hetero world has a stranglehold on! A beautifully complex discussion about identity, assimilation, heritage, lingering grief, and family trauma. I also appreciated the deeply intersectional exploration of identity-- it was astounding to see these family members' relationships to their own multiple identities identities come into conflict with one another. Everyone is written as a unique, genuine person with their own distinct voices. Hope to see this developed and produced soon!
  • My Father's Keeper
    17 Aug. 2019
    All of the characters in this beautiful piece are incredibly human and real. Del Carmen renders each character with great empathy, sensitivity, and nuance, while also not letting any of them off the hook for their faults and missteps. Both the flashback narrative and the contemporary family coming to terms with their patriarch's death kept me engaged and eagerly awaiting the next plot development. Poignant, intimate, and very theatrical. As I watched a reading of it, I could easily visualize how it would live onstage. I really hope to see this produced soon!
  • In His Hands
    17 Aug. 2019
    Wow! So intimate, hyper-focused, sexy, and moving. The genuinely hilarious and human courtship of Christian and Daniel is made more complex by some poignant and heartbreaking asides and organic yet profound and thought-provoking discussion of homophobia in the church. What's revealed to us about Christian's life external to Daniel is doled out with sparse but impactful memories and flashbacks. Comes to an oh-so-satisfying ending as well. I sincerely hope this is developed and produced soon! The visual and aural landscape Benne paints here is highly theatrical and compelling.

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