Recommended by Philip Middleton Williams

  • Philip Middleton Williams: Ring Around the Rosary

    This gem of a story has you thinking in one direction only to find that the Camilla's search for a missing rosary has more to it. Ward Kay's gentle approach to this story warms the heart but also makes us think that sometimes we don't get to choose when to say what we need to say, and even in a short play, we get the depth and range of emotions and character that are worthy of a full-length piece. Lovely. (9/28/24)

    This gem of a story has you thinking in one direction only to find that the Camilla's search for a missing rosary has more to it. Ward Kay's gentle approach to this story warms the heart but also makes us think that sometimes we don't get to choose when to say what we need to say, and even in a short play, we get the depth and range of emotions and character that are worthy of a full-length piece. Lovely. (9/28/24)

  • Philip Middleton Williams: Most Outstanding Minority Girl

    This is what happens when trying to be politically correct runs headlong into common sense. Something's gotta give, and the good intentions of these teachers becomes a farce of pretzel logic. Kelly McBurnette-Andronicos deftly navigates these hazards without rancor or meanness, and that makes it all the more truthful and funny. (9/28/24)

    This is what happens when trying to be politically correct runs headlong into common sense. Something's gotta give, and the good intentions of these teachers becomes a farce of pretzel logic. Kelly McBurnette-Andronicos deftly navigates these hazards without rancor or meanness, and that makes it all the more truthful and funny. (9/28/24)

  • Philip Middleton Williams: Poker Night

    I should have known what's coming in this slice-of-life tale of friends gathering for their regular get-together when the conversation reels from mustard stains as a menu reminder to a treatise on masturbation. With the arrival of the last player it gleefully goes from realism to wildly open season on everyone, including the audience. Funny, scary, and just plain weird... but in a twisty and playful way.

    I should have known what's coming in this slice-of-life tale of friends gathering for their regular get-together when the conversation reels from mustard stains as a menu reminder to a treatise on masturbation. With the arrival of the last player it gleefully goes from realism to wildly open season on everyone, including the audience. Funny, scary, and just plain weird... but in a twisty and playful way.

  • Philip Middleton Williams: The Cat in the Box

    Cats are by nature predators, so their suspicions and senses are heightened when something new appears in their realm, even if it something as innocuous as a cardboard box. They must examine it, never letting down their guard, and then proclaim dominance. They would never admit to allowing that it provides pleasure; that would be an admission of weakness, and there must never be any evidence that they like this new presence to their liking. You never saw it, did you? Of course not. (09/23/24)

    Cats are by nature predators, so their suspicions and senses are heightened when something new appears in their realm, even if it something as innocuous as a cardboard box. They must examine it, never letting down their guard, and then proclaim dominance. They would never admit to allowing that it provides pleasure; that would be an admission of weakness, and there must never be any evidence that they like this new presence to their liking. You never saw it, did you? Of course not. (09/23/24)

  • Philip Middleton Williams: Our Final Family Outing

    There have always been stories about families: Adam and Eve, Medea, Oedipus, Hamlet, the Lomans -- you get the idea. Each one is different, but there are connections in every one. Marshall Logan Gibbs gives us a family that has all the elements necessary for a powerful story as any of the aforementioned clans, and the quirks and peccadilloes make them human, vulnerable, and even lovable. Mom and Dad and son and daughter are all their own characters, but they are all in the family. (9/19/24)

    There have always been stories about families: Adam and Eve, Medea, Oedipus, Hamlet, the Lomans -- you get the idea. Each one is different, but there are connections in every one. Marshall Logan Gibbs gives us a family that has all the elements necessary for a powerful story as any of the aforementioned clans, and the quirks and peccadilloes make them human, vulnerable, and even lovable. Mom and Dad and son and daughter are all their own characters, but they are all in the family. (9/19/24)

  • Philip Middleton Williams: WHOSE KIDS ARE ALRIGHT? — A TEN-MINUTE PLAY

    I am usually leery of plays about old men sitting on a park bench complaining about their kids because they're either written by people who are too young to know what old people are really like, or they're written by old people who play to the stereotypes. But speaking as an old guy (72), Adam Richter gets it right in this moment, and it's like he's been listening in when I'm with my friends. I know Walt and Stan, and you will, too. (09/17/24)

    I am usually leery of plays about old men sitting on a park bench complaining about their kids because they're either written by people who are too young to know what old people are really like, or they're written by old people who play to the stereotypes. But speaking as an old guy (72), Adam Richter gets it right in this moment, and it's like he's been listening in when I'm with my friends. I know Walt and Stan, and you will, too. (09/17/24)

  • Philip Middleton Williams: rod f**king serling

    I watched "The Twilight Zone" when it originally aired, and I remember thinking, before I watched it, that it was a horror series with monsters and such. In truth, and as Ian Donley makes it very clear, it was nothing like the "chewing gum for the eyes" that Frank Lloyd Wright called TV of the time. It was the most honest depiction of the human condition with all its faults, and a refuge for those of us who knew exactly how the Young Man felt, and who knew who the real monsters were.

    I watched "The Twilight Zone" when it originally aired, and I remember thinking, before I watched it, that it was a horror series with monsters and such. In truth, and as Ian Donley makes it very clear, it was nothing like the "chewing gum for the eyes" that Frank Lloyd Wright called TV of the time. It was the most honest depiction of the human condition with all its faults, and a refuge for those of us who knew exactly how the Young Man felt, and who knew who the real monsters were.

  • Philip Middleton Williams: New Girl in Town (a one minute play)

    April 1989: A kitchen in a house in Longmont, Colorado. I'm trying to figure out how to put a collar on Sam, a squirming puppy who insists on licking my face. I close my eyes and send a message far into the future to my friend John Busser and relay this moment so he will immortalize it for the ages. And now that message has been received and so well done. Good dog!

    April 1989: A kitchen in a house in Longmont, Colorado. I'm trying to figure out how to put a collar on Sam, a squirming puppy who insists on licking my face. I close my eyes and send a message far into the future to my friend John Busser and relay this moment so he will immortalize it for the ages. And now that message has been received and so well done. Good dog!

  • Philip Middleton Williams: Mr. Darcy, I'm waiting (A monologue for women)

    I loved the balance of hope and desperation, taken together that give Nancy the courage tempered by the uncertainty so many of us can understand, to take the first tentative steps out of her self-imposed exile. I wanted to say "you've got this," and cheer her on. Darrin J. Friedman has a fine ear for what she's going through, and I would love to see this performed.

    I loved the balance of hope and desperation, taken together that give Nancy the courage tempered by the uncertainty so many of us can understand, to take the first tentative steps out of her self-imposed exile. I wanted to say "you've got this," and cheer her on. Darrin J. Friedman has a fine ear for what she's going through, and I would love to see this performed.

  • Philip Middleton Williams: Better Call Shoenstein

    I'm of an age where stand-up comics were the staple of TV variety shows and Vegas acts as well as the Catskills summers and Miami Beach winters. It was old-school -- "Take my wife, please" -- and this quick and hilarious piece by Norkin & Busser -- a comedy duo if there ever was one -- pays tribute to the old days by going back to the really old days. You can't miss a word, and I chuckled at the timeless -- literally -- set-ups and rim-shots. Bravo!

    I'm of an age where stand-up comics were the staple of TV variety shows and Vegas acts as well as the Catskills summers and Miami Beach winters. It was old-school -- "Take my wife, please" -- and this quick and hilarious piece by Norkin & Busser -- a comedy duo if there ever was one -- pays tribute to the old days by going back to the really old days. You can't miss a word, and I chuckled at the timeless -- literally -- set-ups and rim-shots. Bravo!