Recommended by MT Cozzola

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    This play combines some of my favorite theatrical elements--ensemble storytelling, documentary underpinning, and fluid scenic action--to tell a story that resonates on both a personal level and a historic one. The characters feel vibrant, captured at crucial moments, and the dialog effortless. I also really love how the pacing supports and drives Mo's challenge to control their own destiny even as they discover it. A timely and emotionally resonant script!

    This play combines some of my favorite theatrical elements--ensemble storytelling, documentary underpinning, and fluid scenic action--to tell a story that resonates on both a personal level and a historic one. The characters feel vibrant, captured at crucial moments, and the dialog effortless. I also really love how the pacing supports and drives Mo's challenge to control their own destiny even as they discover it. A timely and emotionally resonant script!

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    A play of and for the moment! The story of this ragtag group trying to put on a production of Heidi is funny and outrageous and unapologetically sincere at its core. The action and dialog move swiftly and pack laughs and gasps along the way. The characters are absolutely committed, and that grounds the silliness--and enables Fardin to carry the absurdity further, until it transforms into the most outrageous thing of all--pure hope. Audiences will come away laughing and heartened.

    A play of and for the moment! The story of this ragtag group trying to put on a production of Heidi is funny and outrageous and unapologetically sincere at its core. The action and dialog move swiftly and pack laughs and gasps along the way. The characters are absolutely committed, and that grounds the silliness--and enables Fardin to carry the absurdity further, until it transforms into the most outrageous thing of all--pure hope. Audiences will come away laughing and heartened.

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    Smart. Suspense. Surprising. Proximity Play is all those things. BUT ALSO, I feel like when staged, so many parents will watch and feel like, AT LAST SOMEONE UNDERSTANDS MY CHALLENGES. I think this play will make a lot of people feel good--and yes, that's despite or along with the pain we feel for what some of the characters experience. It will make the audience feel loved and understood, which is one of the most awesome things a play can do, in my opinion.

    Smart. Suspense. Surprising. Proximity Play is all those things. BUT ALSO, I feel like when staged, so many parents will watch and feel like, AT LAST SOMEONE UNDERSTANDS MY CHALLENGES. I think this play will make a lot of people feel good--and yes, that's despite or along with the pain we feel for what some of the characters experience. It will make the audience feel loved and understood, which is one of the most awesome things a play can do, in my opinion.

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    I started laughing on page 1 and pretty much didn't stop. Bravoso gives us a fable of logical conclusions to the improbable realities. The characters are relateable, vulnerable, and make some absolutely horrible choices that I almost can't blame them for. Which is exactly where I want to be as an audience member, especially when watching something that mirrors our culture at the moment. Bravo to Bravoso!

    I started laughing on page 1 and pretty much didn't stop. Bravoso gives us a fable of logical conclusions to the improbable realities. The characters are relateable, vulnerable, and make some absolutely horrible choices that I almost can't blame them for. Which is exactly where I want to be as an audience member, especially when watching something that mirrors our culture at the moment. Bravo to Bravoso!

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    I needed a laugh today and this play gave me so many! I'm drawn to Minky's strong wants that just keep coming. Poor Billie is faced with so much upheaval, and in the end I'm pretty sure Pavel is responsible for all of it...so I'm ready for the next installment! A delight, and I would love to see this onstage.

    I needed a laugh today and this play gave me so many! I'm drawn to Minky's strong wants that just keep coming. Poor Billie is faced with so much upheaval, and in the end I'm pretty sure Pavel is responsible for all of it...so I'm ready for the next installment! A delight, and I would love to see this onstage.

  • MT Cozzola: Last to Die for a Lost Cause by Brian James Polak
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    Engaging characters and tight construction make this intimate drama impossible to put down. Each character is struggling with some aspect of desertion, and not always in the way I've understood that term. The relationships between Calvin and Tommy, and between Anna and Shada are particularly poignant, and the climax was heartbreaking. I can see this play working particularly well with a minimal set and a great sound designer. It's extremely powerful in its simplicity, dark humor, and stark themes.

    Engaging characters and tight construction make this intimate drama impossible to put down. Each character is struggling with some aspect of desertion, and not always in the way I've understood that term. The relationships between Calvin and Tommy, and between Anna and Shada are particularly poignant, and the climax was heartbreaking. I can see this play working particularly well with a minimal set and a great sound designer. It's extremely powerful in its simplicity, dark humor, and stark themes.

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  • MT Cozzola: The Persuadables by Hallie Palladino
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    This retelling of the Cambridge Analyticalizing of our democracy has humor, specificity, and most of all, compassion. Yes there are good guys and bad guys, but the power of the play is the way Hallie makes us see how TEMPTING it is to think that big data is safe in our own hands...and how integrity can get eaten away little by little until we don't even know it's gone. A timely and smart play.

    This retelling of the Cambridge Analyticalizing of our democracy has humor, specificity, and most of all, compassion. Yes there are good guys and bad guys, but the power of the play is the way Hallie makes us see how TEMPTING it is to think that big data is safe in our own hands...and how integrity can get eaten away little by little until we don't even know it's gone. A timely and smart play.

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  • MT Cozzola: WHAT WE ARE NOT LOOKING FOR by Rachael Carnes
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    This piece shines in the sweet spot between anger and hope, between poetry and practicality. I keep imagining it alongside other scenes about protest and how it fits (or doesn't) into our lives right now. A character who is immediately vivid, with wants and needs that root her to this spot right now. Bravo!

    This piece shines in the sweet spot between anger and hope, between poetry and practicality. I keep imagining it alongside other scenes about protest and how it fits (or doesn't) into our lives right now. A character who is immediately vivid, with wants and needs that root her to this spot right now. Bravo!

    ”
  • MT Cozzola: Monica: This Play Is Not About Monica Lewinsky by Dianne Nora
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    This play is really NOT about Monica Lewinsky, and what's fascinating is the WAY it's not--somehow it makes me reexamine my own assumptions about public figures and my own relationships. I kept being surprised by the shifts in how my assumptions were undercut, and how the deliberately fictional story was informed by and reframed what I saw as the "real" story. A great example of how theatre can take us places that wouldn't work in film or TV. Lots of layers, entertaining and thought-provoking.

    This play is really NOT about Monica Lewinsky, and what's fascinating is the WAY it's not--somehow it makes me reexamine my own assumptions about public figures and my own relationships. I kept being surprised by the shifts in how my assumptions were undercut, and how the deliberately fictional story was informed by and reframed what I saw as the "real" story. A great example of how theatre can take us places that wouldn't work in film or TV. Lots of layers, entertaining and thought-provoking.

    ”
  • MT Cozzola: ZEN & the Art of Mourning a Mother by Emma Goldman-Sherman
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    I'm delighted by the three relationships in time being explored onstage at once in this piece. Sarah is a character who altogether breaks my heart, cracks me up, makes me cringe in recognition, and makes me root for her -- what a light touch Goldman-Sherman has, in the way she examines grief and our ties to the past through suspenseful dramatic questions and swift surprises. Beautiful!

    I'm delighted by the three relationships in time being explored onstage at once in this piece. Sarah is a character who altogether breaks my heart, cracks me up, makes me cringe in recognition, and makes me root for her -- what a light touch Goldman-Sherman has, in the way she examines grief and our ties to the past through suspenseful dramatic questions and swift surprises. Beautiful!

    ”