Recommended by Danielle Mohlman

  • Danielle Mohlman: Soldier Poet by Darcy Parker Bruce
    “

    Soldier Poet is a beautiful and urgent look at U.S. involvement in Syria told through the lens of Ben, a young female Army Ranger with a bum ticker and a generous spirit. Her father thinks she fixes cars for the Army, but the reality is much more nuanced than that. Darcy Parker Bruce tackles violence with poetry, creating a more layered and detailed Syria than the one we see on the news. And don't even get me started on her image of chlorine gas. It will stick with you for months.

    Soldier Poet is a beautiful and urgent look at U.S. involvement in Syria told through the lens of Ben, a young female Army Ranger with a bum ticker and a generous spirit. Her father thinks she fixes cars for the Army, but the reality is much more nuanced than that. Darcy Parker Bruce tackles violence with poetry, creating a more layered and detailed Syria than the one we see on the news. And don't even get me started on her image of chlorine gas. It will stick with you for months.

    ”
  • Danielle Mohlman: ORIGIN STORY by Scott Dunn
    “

    Remember the moment you lost the magic of childhood? Danny and Samantha of Scott Dunn's Origin Story certainly do. We workshopped this play in 2014 as part of Field Trip Theatre's staged reading series in DC bars. I selected this play because I love the way Scott created a intense and colorful world using just two actors and a bare stage. Because of the way Origin Story jumps between childhood and adulthood with nothing more than a jolt of dialogue, Scott's characters are the very definition of multifaceted. They contradict themselves. They're human. I cannot wait to see this produced.

    Remember the moment you lost the magic of childhood? Danny and Samantha of Scott Dunn's Origin Story certainly do. We workshopped this play in 2014 as part of Field Trip Theatre's staged reading series in DC bars. I selected this play because I love the way Scott created a intense and colorful world using just two actors and a bare stage. Because of the way Origin Story jumps between childhood and adulthood with nothing more than a jolt of dialogue, Scott's characters are the very definition of multifaceted. They contradict themselves. They're human. I cannot wait to see this produced.

    ”
  • Danielle Mohlman: I LOVE SEAN by Adrian Einspanier
    “

    I had the pleasure of seeing performance hi's workshop production of I Love Sean in Vancouver and was floored by Adrian Einspanier's incredible text. Their dialogue is full of sentences that are half-realism, half-experimental, and 100% genuine. If you're looking for a play that explores a love of reality TV through a feminist lens, this play is for you. If you're interested in the weird things couples do, what women talk about when they're not talking about their periods, and whether or not unprotected sex is a relationship step, this play is also for you. I too love Sean.

    I had the pleasure of seeing performance hi's workshop production of I Love Sean in Vancouver and was floored by Adrian Einspanier's incredible text. Their dialogue is full of sentences that are half-realism, half-experimental, and 100% genuine. If you're looking for a play that explores a love of reality TV through a feminist lens, this play is for you. If you're interested in the weird things couples do, what women talk about when they're not talking about their periods, and whether or not unprotected sex is a relationship step, this play is also for you. I too love Sean.

    ”
  • Danielle Mohlman: THE MYSTIC (Book of the Rewards of Life Part One) by Edith Freni
    “

    You know that feeling where your cheeks hurt so much because you just died laughing? That's how The Mystic makes me feel. We workshopped The Mystic at the 2016 Sewanee Writers' Conference and the way Edith marries the language of the 12th and 21st centuries is astonishing in itself. But add to that the bite of this play's humor and a dash of Christopher Cross and you have The Mystic. I cannot wait to see this play produced and I am eagerly anticipating the second and third parts of this triptych.

    You know that feeling where your cheeks hurt so much because you just died laughing? That's how The Mystic makes me feel. We workshopped The Mystic at the 2016 Sewanee Writers' Conference and the way Edith marries the language of the 12th and 21st centuries is astonishing in itself. But add to that the bite of this play's humor and a dash of Christopher Cross and you have The Mystic. I cannot wait to see this play produced and I am eagerly anticipating the second and third parts of this triptych.

    ”
  • Danielle Mohlman: All We Know Is Not Enough by Darcy Parker Bruce
    “

    Dragons! Ham radios! A pay-by-the-hour motel whose sign boasts "RemeMEber, God Loves You!" Is there anything this play doesn't have? We workshopped All We Know Is Not Enough at the 2016 Sewanee Writers' Conference and it was absolutely wonderful to experience the celestially obsessed and brutally honest sibling relationship that Darcy has created between Romeo and his sister Charlie. Throw in otherworldly communication and a suspect dragon and you have Darcy Parker Bruce's All We Know Is Not Enough.

    Dragons! Ham radios! A pay-by-the-hour motel whose sign boasts "RemeMEber, God Loves You!" Is there anything this play doesn't have? We workshopped All We Know Is Not Enough at the 2016 Sewanee Writers' Conference and it was absolutely wonderful to experience the celestially obsessed and brutally honest sibling relationship that Darcy has created between Romeo and his sister Charlie. Throw in otherworldly communication and a suspect dragon and you have Darcy Parker Bruce's All We Know Is Not Enough.

    ”