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Nick Malakhow

Recommended by Nick Malakhow

  • Up the Ladder, Down the Slide by David Valdes
    13 Apr. 2019
    “ A poignant and deeply intersectional look at family relationships, caretaking, grieving, and loss. Like all of my favorite plays in this sphere, plenty of very human laughs came along with the lyrical language, beautifully described stage pictures, and heartbreaking moments. Would love to see and experience this onstage, as the described visuals and sounds are vivid and distinct. ”
  • WHITE HISTORY by Dave Harris
    13 Apr. 2019
    “ Was privileged to see a staged reading of this. By turns brutal, beautiful, horrifying, and hilarious. Provocative in the best possible way. Raises questions and reveals insights about race in America using visceral gut punches paired with eloquent discourse and genius metaphors. The subtle stylistic progression throughout and, especially, at the end is organic and brilliant! I'm eager to see this on stages in the near future. ”
  • Ripped by Rachel Bublitz
    6 Apr. 2019
    “ I just loved how this was structured. Up until the very end, we're discovering new information that adds layer upon layer to the characters and circumstances! Loved the use of the dress and its condition as a way of telling time and making sense of the chronology. The hazy and irregular transitions in time echo the irregularity of Lucy piecing together the events. All in all, a really thoughtful and complex exploration of an extraordinarily difficult topic. ”
  • Black Super Hero Magic Mama by Inda Craig-Galván
    3 Apr. 2019
    “ Wow! What an amazing piece. I can't believe how effortlessly it travels from warm human realism to razor-sharp satire to gutting tragedy to magical realism and back again. This piece manages all of those tones, styles, motifs, etc. while feeling like a beautifully unified piece of art. A dangerous read on public transit, as I vacillated many times between raucously laughing aloud to crying openly. I'm so grateful to have read it and can't wait to experience a production. ”
  • Eureka Day by Jonathan Spector
    19 Mar. 2019
    “ As a former teacher from a Quaker school, this satirizing of the "well-meaning-liberal-agenda gone astray" is so very on point. The group chat gone awry is one of the funniest scenes I've read in a long time, and it had me laughing uncontrollably to myself on a quiet plane. I'd love to see what that looked like in production! This is a fresh and novel group of people rendered onstage, and Spector shifts effortlessly between hilarity and poignant personal tragedy. ”
  • Trees in their youth by Dominic Finocchiaro
    18 Mar. 2019
    “ This piece uses line breaks in a truly wonderful way, capturing a somewhat lyrical, but also natural rhythm of speech effortlessly. I also loved the amplified and heightened world of the piece. While high school coming of age stories tend to be full of oft-used tropes, the characters rendered here were recognizable, but also fresh, unique, and distinct. This piece captures with theatricality, music, and rhythm what disingenuous teen movies fail to capture onscreen. Wonderful on the page, and would be even more kinetic onstage! ”
  • The Violet Sisters by Gina Femia
    8 Mar. 2019
    “ This is already highly recommended on NPX, but I have to add my voice to the chorus of people floored by this piece! The seamless, real-time drama is perfectly paced from the beginning. There is not a false note struck at all in both the dialogue and the way the revelations burst forth throughout the taut 90 minutes. I was both left in stitches with some of the priceless moments of organic humor and gutted by seeing these sisters try to navigate their complex and nuanced relationship. ”
  • Winter People by Laura Neill
    27 Feb. 2019
    “ I saw this workshop at the BPT and there is such an astounding mosaic of complex people within this script! This deeply intersectional play uses doubling in an effective and affecting way. A perceptive and nuanced piece, it moves at an almost meditative pace, though still constantly building up to a satisfying climax and resolution. ”
  • Let's Fix Andy by Rachel Bublitz
    27 Feb. 2019
    “ Bublitz writes these four characters with great generosity, empathy, and humor. Her wise use of direct address provides both hilarity and poignant insight. So many narratives that comment on masculinity and male self-image focus on simply rendering men's problematic behaviors; LET'S FIX ANDY interrogates those issues further than other plays by honoring the inner lives of its male protagonists. A super speedy and funny read that I can easily stage in my mind as I read it. ”

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