←

Kenneth Jones

Recommended by Kenneth Jones

  • WAKE by Vince Gatton
    8 Nov. 2022
    “ I am haunted by this twisty play about what haunts us. Grief, anxiety, activism are all mixed into what seems like a genuine ghost story. A play about the power of telling our stories, when we are ready to tell them. Makes me want to read more Vince Gatton plays! ”
  • The Salamander's Tale by Charles Morey
    24 Jun. 2021
    “ A lurid chapter in the recent history of the Mormon Church is dramatized in playwright-director Charles Morey’s gripping new true-crime drama. At once a police procedural and a rumination on institutional and personal ego, the drama bubbles with theatricality as it tells the story of a notorious member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints who forged documents in the 1980s and pulled the church into a swirl of crimes — including murder by pipe bomb. It’s the stuff of great drama, a fascinating story of fraud, forgery, greed, murder and faith.
    ”
  • Light Switch by Dave Osmundsen
    9 Apr. 2021
    “ A funny, heartfelt, tender, tough coming-of-age comedy-drama about a queer autistic man navigating his past and present. I fell in love with this semi-autobiographical two-act play about Henry, whose life includes a collection of would-be friends and lovers, a deep bond with his mother and a passion for English lit. Jumping between time periods, LIGHT SWITCH explores territory we don’t see much in film, theater and TV — and it’s written by someone with the lived experience of his characters. It’s a very specific world, yet universal: Henry wants love. The path felt familiar and fresh at once. ”
  • Rattler by Lindsay Kennedy
    19 Apr. 2020
    “ RATTLER, about a support group for women whose family members have been accused of sexual assault, is a gripping and highly theatrical journey. In Lindsay Adams’ vision of this healing circle, the perpetrators are presumed to be innocent, with little dissent. Until there is. I couldn’t guess what was coming next, and its unexpected angle — that your son might be a perpetrator — is a fresh approach in a widening collection of plays about American sexual assault epidemic. Also loved that it revels in a highly theatrical time/space: a meeting room keeps morphing into different locations, keeping momentum going. ”
  • Accidentally Like A Martyr by Grant James Varjas
    2 Apr. 2020
    “ I couldn't help but think about the juicy ensemble dramas of Eugene O'Neill, Terrence McNally, Tennessee Williams, Lanford Wilson and William Saroyan when I experienced this potent slice of gay ghetto life that touches on the universal need for community and connection, and the sad disease of loneliness. Funny and sad, it's a multigenerational snapshot of people reaching for more than a glass of booze. ”
  • A Distinct Society by Kareem Fahmy
    19 Mar. 2020
    “ Both intimate and expansive, A DISTINCT SOCIETY takes us to a unique location fraught with personal, political and intellectual meaning: a library on the border of the U.S. and Canada. What emerges is a prismatic character study of people yearning for connection in a context of corrosive nationalism, twisted further by our universal need to connect and be loved. I leaned into every compelling moment and each hungry character, and I learned some history I never knew. A special world. ”
  • i by Jeff Talbott
    14 Jul. 2019
    “ A brilliant character study of a woman escaping her past. Set slightly in the future, Jeff Talbott’s twisty, mysterious, funny and sad play about a wife who embarks on a new life — where has she been?, where is she going?, what’s her story? — has the hint of a romantic comedy with elements of mother-daughter drama, sci-fi yarn and family tragedy. This four-actor play tackles universal human ideas with heart, humor and hope. You will never forget it. And you’ll want to see it again and again to uncover its rich layers. ”
  • Ripped by Rachel Bublitz
    22 May. 2019
    “ RIPPED is destined to be one of those “did-you-see-the-same-play-I-did?” experiences as it explores the murky reality of a sexual assault on a college campus. Complex characters with complex emotions and motivations — all of it confused by the consumption of alcohol — make for a rich 90-minute rollercoaster that will likely have audience members of different genders and generations debating and discussing who is culpable, and to what degree. A beautifully calibrated new American play that reflects the sad reality of violence against women in the U.S. Miraculously, this harrowing drama has flecks of quirk, heart and humor. ”
  • Knifeplay by Shelley McPherson
    2 May. 2019
    “ Workplace harassment is center stage — literally — in this timely a new backstage drama. An actress in a Broadway revival finds herself dealing with unsafe conditions when her co-star brings a knife to rehearsal. Power, ego, money, men, politics — and deafening silence — all play roles in the tension-laced play. It brilliantly dovetails with the #metoo and #timesup movement of women speaking out about workplace assault, but I suspect it will remain riveting beyond the current moment. This edge-of-your seat love letter to theater (warts and all) is gripping from start to finish. ”
  • The Summoning by Charlotte Ahlin
    2 May. 2019
    “ Charlotte Ahlin’s darkly comic new play about three college-age women flirting with the occult as they stand on the brink of adulthood is a frisky, funny, feminist comedy about youthful aspirations. Ahlin keeps you guessing: is her play a satire or a valentine? One thing is certain, it’s wholly original and its characters are endearing and unforgettable. Every college theater program should leap at “The Summoning,” as should every theater company that claims to want to produce plays by women.
    ”

Pages