Recommended by Ali MacLean

  • Ali MacLean: Grunge

    A nostalgic look back at the 90's era through the eyes of the rockers who made it great - and now miss/regret those days. This script reminds those who were there how tumultuous the scene was back then, but also how much fun. Robbie, a conflicted musician who made good on his dreams and left the others behind in the dust, returns to mourn his best friend, but 'getting the band back together again' isn't that easy when it includes an ex, and the ones he burned long ago. This is what Singles should have been.

    A nostalgic look back at the 90's era through the eyes of the rockers who made it great - and now miss/regret those days. This script reminds those who were there how tumultuous the scene was back then, but also how much fun. Robbie, a conflicted musician who made good on his dreams and left the others behind in the dust, returns to mourn his best friend, but 'getting the band back together again' isn't that easy when it includes an ex, and the ones he burned long ago. This is what Singles should have been.

  • Ali MacLean: Lost Girl

    I love this play so much. When I first got it I read it twice in a row. Lost Girl dismantles a classic fairy tale, which are drilled into the subconscious minds of young girls. Wendy still pines for Peter, a Neverland Fuck Boi who, depending on who you believe, kidnapped her. Is it Stockholm syndrome? Is it puppy love? No one seems to understand the pain Wendy is going through as she is stuck, frozen in time, until she can get some kind of resolution. A beautiful, lyrical, heartbreaking look at women who are left as wreckage.

    I love this play so much. When I first got it I read it twice in a row. Lost Girl dismantles a classic fairy tale, which are drilled into the subconscious minds of young girls. Wendy still pines for Peter, a Neverland Fuck Boi who, depending on who you believe, kidnapped her. Is it Stockholm syndrome? Is it puppy love? No one seems to understand the pain Wendy is going through as she is stuck, frozen in time, until she can get some kind of resolution. A beautiful, lyrical, heartbreaking look at women who are left as wreckage.

  • Ali MacLean: TWO STOP

    A harrowing play that grabs you and doesn't let you go as you watch the characters, in real time, barricade themselves in a convenience store as the LA riots get closer. However, the revelations inside cause small fires and explosions of their own and they may not be safe with each other. A suspenseful look at racism, family, and violence in America.

    A harrowing play that grabs you and doesn't let you go as you watch the characters, in real time, barricade themselves in a convenience store as the LA riots get closer. However, the revelations inside cause small fires and explosions of their own and they may not be safe with each other. A suspenseful look at racism, family, and violence in America.

  • Ali MacLean: Killer

    A compelling and powerful play that explores toxic masculinity and football culture in the south and how the immense pressure to win coupled with unbending religious beliefs, stifles a young man's quest to be himself. The characters in this play are richly drawn, warm, funny, frightening, and heartbreaking. When watching them around the dinner table, you feel like you are there passing the cornbread. They must wade through their morality and ultimately decide whether or not to cash in on their son's accident and his hidden sexual orientation - a decision between pride and love. An excellent...

    A compelling and powerful play that explores toxic masculinity and football culture in the south and how the immense pressure to win coupled with unbending religious beliefs, stifles a young man's quest to be himself. The characters in this play are richly drawn, warm, funny, frightening, and heartbreaking. When watching them around the dinner table, you feel like you are there passing the cornbread. They must wade through their morality and ultimately decide whether or not to cash in on their son's accident and his hidden sexual orientation - a decision between pride and love. An excellent play.

  • Ali MacLean: White Party

    A brilliant send up of the kind of people who say "those people" a lot. A mannered comedy with a facade that begins to crumble, the over-privileged haves throwing the white party in this play begin to suspect that their staff, who are not white, are sabotaging it. Refusing to take responsibility for, well, anything, the wealthy couple melt down as they hold a kangaroo court. Funny, insightful, and dare I say, fun.

    A brilliant send up of the kind of people who say "those people" a lot. A mannered comedy with a facade that begins to crumble, the over-privileged haves throwing the white party in this play begin to suspect that their staff, who are not white, are sabotaging it. Refusing to take responsibility for, well, anything, the wealthy couple melt down as they hold a kangaroo court. Funny, insightful, and dare I say, fun.

  • Ali MacLean: Acapulco

    A fun, 1960s farce with plot twists, gender twists, questionable sex, centering on a wonderfully daffy Brooklyn woman, Doris, who learns her own worth and value in the interim. Doris is endearing, even as she walks into traps, and has a warmth and comedic rhythm on par with Theda Blau from It Had To Be You. It’s striking today to see a woman want a man she doesn’t like to propose to her…and yet it isn’t. We root for Doris to overcome the 1960s conventions she’s confined by and come out on top. Great fun.

    A fun, 1960s farce with plot twists, gender twists, questionable sex, centering on a wonderfully daffy Brooklyn woman, Doris, who learns her own worth and value in the interim. Doris is endearing, even as she walks into traps, and has a warmth and comedic rhythm on par with Theda Blau from It Had To Be You. It’s striking today to see a woman want a man she doesn’t like to propose to her…and yet it isn’t. We root for Doris to overcome the 1960s conventions she’s confined by and come out on top. Great fun.

  • Ali MacLean: Extraordinary People

    A fascinating look at conjoined twins and how people are connected and separated in life, in death, and in marriage. A funeral and a wedding bring several sets of twins back together to ruminate on whether or not to have surgery to end their disability, or to stay who they are and what makes them unique and together. Are they the same person if they are apart? Can they exist without one another? Many absorbing questions are woven into the arguments and confessions of these friends and siblings. Aptly named extraordinary people.

    A fascinating look at conjoined twins and how people are connected and separated in life, in death, and in marriage. A funeral and a wedding bring several sets of twins back together to ruminate on whether or not to have surgery to end their disability, or to stay who they are and what makes them unique and together. Are they the same person if they are apart? Can they exist without one another? Many absorbing questions are woven into the arguments and confessions of these friends and siblings. Aptly named extraordinary people.

  • Ali MacLean: Extraordinary People

    A fascinating look at conjoined twins and how people are connected and separated in life, in death, and in marriage. A funeral and a wedding bring several sets of twins back together to ruminate on whether or not to have surgery to end their disability, or to stay who they are and what makes them unique and together. Are they the same person if they are apart? Can they exist without one another? Many absorbing questions are woven into the arguments and confessions of these friends and siblings. Aptly named extraordinary people.

    A fascinating look at conjoined twins and how people are connected and separated in life, in death, and in marriage. A funeral and a wedding bring several sets of twins back together to ruminate on whether or not to have surgery to end their disability, or to stay who they are and what makes them unique and together. Are they the same person if they are apart? Can they exist without one another? Many absorbing questions are woven into the arguments and confessions of these friends and siblings. Aptly named extraordinary people.

  • Ali MacLean: FRANTIC IS THE CAROUSEL

    This thrilling play is both lyrical and blunt, with a plot that will keep you guessing from scene to scene. The two couples, a married couple in their fifties with well-traveled grudges and resentment at their mediocrity, skate on top of a thin ice of cordiality. The other, their son and his sexy, impulsive girlfriend, have no one to reign them in, which becomes tragic. The older couple ultimately has to decide if they will finally 'parent' their adult child, even if the consequences shake their status quo off its axis. Great strong female roles!

    This thrilling play is both lyrical and blunt, with a plot that will keep you guessing from scene to scene. The two couples, a married couple in their fifties with well-traveled grudges and resentment at their mediocrity, skate on top of a thin ice of cordiality. The other, their son and his sexy, impulsive girlfriend, have no one to reign them in, which becomes tragic. The older couple ultimately has to decide if they will finally 'parent' their adult child, even if the consequences shake their status quo off its axis. Great strong female roles!

  • Ali MacLean: Jane Doe

    A powerful, harrowing, and poignant play featuring several women throughout time made iconic by their infamous sexual assault. The women assemble to help Jane Doe realize and confront her own assault, and then she, in turn, helps others. The play deftly deals with rape, the court system's failings, misogyny, body image, fear, denial, and other issues women deal with when dealing with assault. The stories, while all different, seem heartbreakingly similar and the lives stunted rings true.

    A powerful, harrowing, and poignant play featuring several women throughout time made iconic by their infamous sexual assault. The women assemble to help Jane Doe realize and confront her own assault, and then she, in turn, helps others. The play deftly deals with rape, the court system's failings, misogyny, body image, fear, denial, and other issues women deal with when dealing with assault. The stories, while all different, seem heartbreakingly similar and the lives stunted rings true.