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Steven G. Martin

Recommended by Steven G. Martin

  • TEXT, a Soundscape Play by J.E. Hibbard
    1 Jun. 2019
    “ "TEXT, a Soundscape Play" is a wonderful, wordless satire about people insulating themselves from the actual world, its inhabitants, and its marvels and problems. It's funny, sad, pointed, and more than a little uncomfortable because the character is so recognizable. Hibbard's short play doesn't coddle anyone, and it's all the better because of it. ”
  • 352 by Emily Wanamaker
    27 May. 2019
    “ Wanamaker's "352" may literally be a fever dream, as Aurora is ill but denial leads her to do nothing about it. So, impossible things happen: horrific, illogical, beautiful, and deadly. Even with the love, affection, and concern of Perrault, the best cat companion ever, I worry for Aurora. "352" is unsettling. ”
  • Color ED (10-minute) by Philana Imade Omorotionmwan
    26 May. 2019
    “ Omorotionmwan's unsettling drama is impossible to forget, makes it impossible for audiences not to feel sympathy for all the characters as an education system breaks down individuals into automatons. It also is a very personal tale of a girl who faces bias in the form of an older person attempting to provide a life lesson.

    Produce "Color ED." ”
  • Smile, Baby by Claudia Haas
    23 May. 2019
    “ "Smile, Baby" is a first-rate ricochet of a play: spare, direct, on target. Pay attention from the start because Haas doesn't mess around. ”
  • Wax (a monologue) by Olivia Matthews
    23 May. 2019
    “ An audience will immediately find Britney endearing thanks to Matthews' wonderful dialogue that includes beautiful imagery and parent/child anecdotes that showcase their indomitable, almost defiant, spirit. Because the audience cares about Britney so quickly and completely, their retelling of the horrific circumstances they are in impacts the audience even more strongly.

    "Wax" is a gift to a performer and director because there is so much emotion to play. ”
  • Monsters Beyond the Midnight Zone by Lindsay Partain
    21 May. 2019
    “ "Monsters Beyond the Midnight Zone" is a perfectly crafted 10-minute adventure script for the stage.

    Partain doesn't give the audience or characters time to breathe or orient themselves, starting exactly at the moment of life-or-death conflict, and she never lets up on the tension or pace. If that weren't enough, she creates huge complications as the characters try to survive their predicament in one of the world's most extreme locations.

    Actors, directors, designers and audience members will love productions of this play. ”
  • A Small Attempt to be a Specific Woman, But Really Doesn't Mean Anything, Just Ignore Me by Emma Goldman-Sherman
    21 May. 2019
    “ Goldman-Sherman's monologue will wrench an audience's collective heart.

    Action, visuals, and dialogue -- both poetic and pointed -- show a woman whose feelings of self-worth are growing ... before she is forced to retreat, to diminish herself, as the deadening reality of her circumstances reasserts itself on her psyche.

    To wish to be seen as an individual with her own strengths and qualities rather than a symbol of all womanhood, but then not to be able to believe it herself? Absolutely heart wrenching. ”
  • Unfocused by Jean Koppen
    19 May. 2019
    “ Will the United States fall, and much sooner than anyone might imagine? Or can more and more citizens understand the importance and power of participating in civic and political discourse and action?

    Koppen begins "Unfocused" with ridiculous characters being selfish, boorish, and easily manipulated. But through changes of fortune and power relationships, she concludes with sobering insight.

    "Unfocused" is funny, inspirational, and damning all at once. May it be read and produced throughout the U.S., throughout all election cycles. ”
  • Advice for Women by Ronit Rubinstein
    17 May. 2019
    “ "Advice for Women" is brilliant satire that will make audiences laugh and think, question and guffaw.

    Rubinstein excels at dialogue, characterization, theatricality, action, structure, and visuals (yes, the slideshow she outlines is laugh out loud funny!). She also is a skilled critic who takes aim at multiple targets and hits the bull's-eye: lack of respect for women and everyday challenges they face, pandering attitudes of the out-of-touch-with-reality People in Power, and our culture of violence.

    Read this play, yes. Better yet, produce it. ”
  • The Shoebox by Kel Vance
    17 May. 2019
    “ This is a generous, humane, multi-generation play. It's well-crafted with elegant passages of time, specificity of character, trust in an audience's intelligence to make inferences, and its structure -- those days at a time that link together and create new understanding and connections for Vic and Mr. Van. ”

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