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Leah Roth Barsanti

Recommended by Leah Roth Barsanti

  • Next Door by Hanna Kime
    17 Feb. 2021
    “ This is the kind of play you read in one sitting because you can't put it down... and then an hour has passed and it felt like a blink. Compelling, comedic, and unsettlingly truthful, NEXT DOOR interrogates how and why we respond to horrific situations in the ways we do. It is also pure theatrical spectacle as brought to you by lasagna. You're intrigued now, right? Just read it, I promise you won't be disappointed. ”
  • To You & Me & the Ocean by Melanie Coffey
    8 Dec. 2020
    “ No one writes about the water like Melanie Coffey, and this short play is full of all the vastness and longing one expects to feel while looking at the ocean. Set in the future, it's themes, which include friendship and climate change, are timeless. A beautiful little piece that could be produced as a play or film! ”
  • The Violet Sisters by Gina Femia
    8 Dec. 2020
    “ Damn. Two handers are hard to pull off and Femia, true to form, does it beautifully. This play is a case study in quiet tension and how to write about disasters (in this case, Hurricane Sandy) in a way that feels so deeply personal. The Violet Sisters is funny and heartbreaking and I really love it! ”
  • FRAGMENTED by Karissa Murrell Myers
    24 Nov. 2020
    “ This play tells an essential story about what it means to exist "between cultures" in the United States today. Told in delightfully "fragmented" bits and pieces, the form of this play fits its function and works to create a product that is both raw and elevated (and really funny). I loved this play! ”
  • Mother of Exiles by Jessica Huang
    21 Oct. 2020
    “ WOW WOW WOW! I just saw the PlayLabs reading of this play and I cannot recommend it enough. Huang deftly deals with issues of generational trauma, immigration, family, love, and loss in this truly beautiful piece. Any of the three scenes could be great stand-alone plays, but put together, they are nothing short of a masterpiece. I laughed, I cried, I even sang! What a truly fabulous and necessary play! ”
  • Other Rockpools by Fin Coe
    20 Oct. 2020
    “ This play!!! Not only is it character-driven in the BEST WAY, but it's smart, timely, and incredibly fun. A play about science, regret, love, loss, and inter-dimensional time travel, "Other Rockpools" is a journey for both the head and the heart. If you are a theatre company in need of a play full of well-rounded roles for badass young women (hint: you are!), PRODUCE THIS FUCKING PLAY! ”
  • T Club by Jac Ford
    16 Oct. 2020
    “ This play moves so quickly that the 90 minutes of its time feels like a heartbeat. With multi-faceted explorations of how we deal with the tragedies that happen around us, this play will hit home for anyone who has ever experienced loss. But what I love most about this piece is how expertly Jac Ford is able to blend non-specificity and extreme specificity to create a play with a structure that feels new but also inevitable... read it, study it, produce it. ”
  • The Best Damn Thing by Hanna Kime
    16 Oct. 2020
    “ Be still my high school heart! This play is not only heartwarming and so so funny, but it perfectly captures the experience of being a teen girl who is completely inspired by another artist. And the fact that that artist just happens to be Avril Lavigne... well, that's just a fun little bonus. With beautiful moments of theatricality and a central relationship that is painfully real, this play will speak to anyone who has ever been a teen girl (and those who haven't should read it as well!). A must-produce in every high school in America. ”
  • Polar Bears, Black Boys, & Prairie Fringed Orchids by Vincent Terrell Durham
    10 Sep. 2020
    “ This is the kind of play you read with your stomach... full of tough questions and even tougher answers, Durham's play - in which well-meaning characters navigate the racial hierarchy of a gentrifying Harlem - offers unblinking insights into the unintentional harm that can be done when groups of people don't understand each other's perspectives. With an ending that will leave you breathless, POLAR BEARS, BLACK BOYS & PRAIRIE FRINGED ORCHIDS is timely, brave, and hella smart. And you should produce it like... yesterday. ”
  • For The Love Of (or, the Roller Derby Play) by Gina Femia
    6 Sep. 2020
    “ As a roller derby player myself, I can highly recommend this play as one that truly gets at the heart of one of the most unique sports out there! (NO SPOILERS BUT...) the tattoo scene in and of itself deserves the highest of praise and could stand alone as its own piece. A beautiful, movement-based play that should be produced far and wide! ”

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