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Scott Sickles

Recommended by Scott Sickles

  • Brandi Alexander by Tatiana Pavela
    10 Nov. 2018
    “ Brutal. Brutal kind of the way Hannah Gadsby's Nanette is brutal, but in many ways angrier, more immediate, more "as I share what happened to me then, you will experience it now, Now, NOW, and you won't get to flinch either." It captures the raw honestly found in stand-up that emerges from our darkest, most painful experiences. Yet this is not a stand-up act; it is a solo play about a woman doing a stand-up act about the transformative experience of rape. It's an indictment. It's a mic drop. It's a dissection of soul. ”
  • CORNUCOPIA by Rachael Carnes
    10 Nov. 2018
    “ Breathtakingly funny play about An Incident that occurs on Thanksgiving Eve. To say more about what happens would be a spoiler and this play deserves to surprise its audience. I will say that it does confront the ancient yet undying cultural divide over what is and is not "dressing." A must for any holiday play festival or really anytime you need a good comedy in your evening of plays.

    Also, the characters can be played by any two adults. The potential combinations are dazzling! ”
  • TV — PHONES — POOL by Rachael Carnes
    10 Nov. 2018
    “ Two middle aged farts are getting ready to go, I don't know, somewhere!!! But wherever it is, it’s important, people have expectations of them, they have expectations of themselves, and they cannot disappoint! A charming and funny motel room two-hander. It was impossible for me to read this without hearing Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau taking turns making the best of things, then bitching about them a moment later. A delight! ”
  • Honors Students by Jack MacCarthy
    9 Nov. 2018
    “ Dark, twisted, and filled wall-to-wall with unsettling truths. I might have thought the longevity and endurance of the abusive, even sadistic, friendship portrayed on stage might have been difficult to believe I didn't remember my own adolescence. Oh the people we've convinced ourselves we love and the things we let them do to us...

    HONORS STUDENTS is a battle between the powers of darkness and light for one girl's soul. They don't know that's what's happening, which makes the goings-on all too real. ”
  • Help! I'm Trapped in a Monologue Written by Matthew Weaver! by Matthew Weaver
    21 Oct. 2018
    “ Gloriously meta! Wonderfully funny! Celebratory and self-deprecating but always charming. A total hoot!

    I just read "Cast Size: 2-20." First of all: HAHAHAHA! Second: this would be a GREAT play to end an evening of short plays. Or even begin one! You could get the entire cast of the evening involved! ”
  • Carnality by Mark Loewenstern
    11 Oct. 2018
    “ When done right, this play will make you hungry. Ravenously hungry. For MEAT!
    It's also an honest, well-observed drama with two terrific roles for actors and a story that resonates. Hell, I saw it about two decades ago and it's still with me. And now I'm hungry again just thinking about it. ”
  • Near Nellie Bly by Mark Loewenstern
    11 Oct. 2018
    “ The choice to tell the tale of Nelly Bly's stay in an Blackwell's from the point of view of another patient somehow gives the story even more power. Anne Neville is not a well woman: fragile, possibly delusional, trapped, and enraged, we truly get the sense of the hell the mentally ill endure from both their afflictions and their so called treatment. It's a tour de force role in a striking and daringly imaginative play. ”
  • Toasted Marshmallow Mocha by Matthew Weaver
    5 Oct. 2018
    “ A play that's as delightful a confection as its title! If you need a light, fun and funny, expressionistic piece exploring the Sisyphean struggle for human connection in the face of loneliness and solitude that, despite its heavy themes, is a fast-paced joy to read/see... THIS IS IT!!! TREAT YO SELF! ”
  • A Death in the Woods by Bruce Bonafede
    5 Oct. 2018
    “ A beautiful, powerful tale of fathers, sons, and their expectations of each other and the world. The imagery is so simple and clear, one can't help being in the woods with these characters, even when the narrator is relaying his memories of the trip. The piece so accurately captures the surgically sharp and profound disappointment parents have for their children, a disappointment that the children inherit. The ending hit me where I live. ”
  • What Love Must Be by Franky D. Gonzalez
    5 Oct. 2018
    “ Equal parts grounded and surreal, naturalistic and heightened, brutally honest yet immersed in creating a fantasy. I recommend reading it at least twice: the first time to be surprised, and the second time to know what how to interpret those surprises, to let them impact you. There's a cleverness to the writing, a deftness that is immediately impressive *as writing* that eventually gives way to the emotions of the story and the profound needs of the characters. Truly remarkable. ”

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