Recommended by Christopher Walsh

  • The Gravediggers Union
    17 Mar. 2020
    As a weird sort of retelling of Chekhov's Three Sisters by way of Samuel Beckett, The Gravediggers Union is an immensely fun read. A wry and somewhat absurdist humor weaves through the narratives of the various employees at a locally owned graveyard which is in danger of being absorbed by the larger, corporate-owned graveyard nearby. The characters focus hard on the mundane details of their jobs and their dreams for their futures, while shutting out the more macabre aspects of their work. It is as real and relatable as it is whimsical and strange.
  • PLAINCLOTHES
    12 May. 2019
    You can imagine that department store employees who work security and loss prevention might have some interesting stories to tell, but PLAINCLOTHES gets much deeper than that. It explores a particularly strange intersection of race, class, and prejudice. The workers tasked with navigating this complicated terrain are paid barely above minimum wage, and just want to get through their shifts and on with their lives.
  • GIRL IN THE RED CORNER
    19 Feb. 2019
    What a fantastic script. The Broken Nose Theatre production in Chicago was an inspiring piece of theatre, with incredible roles for some gifted actors. It is impossible not to identify with Halo and her journey. At the end, when her sister asks her to explain why she needs this (MMA training) in her life, you could feel the truth of Halo's answer reverberate through the audience. I cannot recommend it highly enough.
  • Second Skin
    19 Jan. 2019
    I love this script. I was lucky enough to see the 2018 WildClaw Theatre (Chicago) production. It's eerie and atmospheric, and makes brilliant use of horror and mythological elements to underscore the relationships at the heart of the story.
  • Night in Alachua County
    14 Oct. 2018
    I had the privilege of working on this play when it was produced by WildClaw Theatre in Chicago. It is steeped with the atmosphere of dread and family secrets that you would hope for in a modern gothic story set in Florida, and then adds a layer of genuine supernatural horror that amplifies the already disturbing subject matter. The bursts of genuine humor serve to make the dark turns that much more unnerving when they arrive. I am a huge fan of this play!
  • VANYA or "That's Life!"
    14 Oct. 2018
    I was lucky enough to see this when Rasaka Theatre Company in Chicago produced it. It's a delightful deconstruction and re-examination of Chekov's play, inviting the audience to first see how the story turns out, and then gradually explore how it got there. The result allows the audience to imagine what might happen if characters had made different decisions at various pivotal points in their lives. Jadhwani also has a lot of fun with the language, injecting bursts of modern humor that play with the audience's expectations.
  • Human Terrain
    14 Oct. 2018
    I saw 'Human Terrain' when Broken Nose Theatre produced it in Chicago. It was riveting and beautiful, with an ending that left the audience breathless. It is impossible not to be drawn in by the empathy displayed by the main character, an anthropologist attached to an American military unit in Iraq. The role is incredible, and her story is fascinating.