Recommended by David Narter

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    The pace of this suspenseful play performed in blistering two-person scenes absolutely mesmerized me (and everyone else) when I saw this performed in a reading. Each scene is an exploration of the abuses of power, and the snappy, menacing dialogue keep you entranced as the details of the story gradually unfold. Dark, horrifying and often funny, this is a powerful piece with little, to no, set requirements.

    The pace of this suspenseful play performed in blistering two-person scenes absolutely mesmerized me (and everyone else) when I saw this performed in a reading. Each scene is an exploration of the abuses of power, and the snappy, menacing dialogue keep you entranced as the details of the story gradually unfold. Dark, horrifying and often funny, this is a powerful piece with little, to no, set requirements.

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    Two worlds collide in this endearing and entertaining play. Eva's servers will certainly be familiar to anyone who has ever worked at an upscale restaurant (all playwrights!) and she writes them with wit and real life. To this environment, she adds a fascinating outsider who makes it clear to us how ubiquitous and destructive abuses of power can be. This is an engrossing story with charming characters that is perfect for a single-set theatre.

    Two worlds collide in this endearing and entertaining play. Eva's servers will certainly be familiar to anyone who has ever worked at an upscale restaurant (all playwrights!) and she writes them with wit and real life. To this environment, she adds a fascinating outsider who makes it clear to us how ubiquitous and destructive abuses of power can be. This is an engrossing story with charming characters that is perfect for a single-set theatre.

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    Surprising play that somehow manages to place Chekhov's sisters seamlessly in a New Hampshire graveyard. The synopsis doesn't do justice to the complexity of this comedy that weaves existential dread and modern absurdity with themes and characters that we can recognize from the beginning of modernism. All of this seems heady stuff, but Polak's light, breezy style makes this, at its core, a wonderfully fun and entertaining play.

    Surprising play that somehow manages to place Chekhov's sisters seamlessly in a New Hampshire graveyard. The synopsis doesn't do justice to the complexity of this comedy that weaves existential dread and modern absurdity with themes and characters that we can recognize from the beginning of modernism. All of this seems heady stuff, but Polak's light, breezy style makes this, at its core, a wonderfully fun and entertaining play.

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    The show begins at the end of the world and, through many uncomfortable and often hilarious revelations, we see the lives of its characters - a weirdly familiar yet extraordinarily dysfunctional family - deconstructed. A smart and structurally fascinating play with conflict, humor and humanity. Spot-on clever dialogue and smart theatrical sensibilities make this a very producible play.

    The show begins at the end of the world and, through many uncomfortable and often hilarious revelations, we see the lives of its characters - a weirdly familiar yet extraordinarily dysfunctional family - deconstructed. A smart and structurally fascinating play with conflict, humor and humanity. Spot-on clever dialogue and smart theatrical sensibilities make this a very producible play.

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    A fun and original little piece that manages to take the weird phenomenon of fatbergs (look it up) and give them a resonance that, well, they would NEVER otherwise have. Clever dialogue and easy to stage.

    A fun and original little piece that manages to take the weird phenomenon of fatbergs (look it up) and give them a resonance that, well, they would NEVER otherwise have. Clever dialogue and easy to stage.

  • David Narter: Welcome to Keene, New Hampshire by Brian James Polak
    “

    It's hard to read (or, I imagine watch) this play without also hearing echos of Wilder's "Out Town" . That's clearly intentional, and the sharp contrast between his idyllic 1900's town and Polak's deftly drawn characters and anxious political atmosphere make this play particularly important for today's theatre. Fascinatingly, Polak manages to find humor and a subtle kind of optimism in his broken American town. An important show that I'd love to see on a college stage.

    It's hard to read (or, I imagine watch) this play without also hearing echos of Wilder's "Out Town" . That's clearly intentional, and the sharp contrast between his idyllic 1900's town and Polak's deftly drawn characters and anxious political atmosphere make this play particularly important for today's theatre. Fascinatingly, Polak manages to find humor and a subtle kind of optimism in his broken American town. An important show that I'd love to see on a college stage.

    ”
  • David Narter: Catherine Forever (the parasite) by Chris Vanderark
    “

    A funny, inventive, smart and charming play. The coolest aspect of this, for me, was being seduced by the jaunty and often ridiculous humor, much of it meta, some of it by a puppet, and finding in the end that it all served a terrifically smart purpose.

    A funny, inventive, smart and charming play. The coolest aspect of this, for me, was being seduced by the jaunty and often ridiculous humor, much of it meta, some of it by a puppet, and finding in the end that it all served a terrifically smart purpose.

    ”