Rachel Beth Greene

All is calm until theater department favorite Professor Daniel Holmes casts unassuming freshman Laura Vogel as Carol in his Spring production of David Mamet’s Oleanna. No one is less pleased than ambitious sophomore Jen Barnett, who threatens to expose a secret that could turn lives and careers upside down. When student reporter Andy Stark starts to follow leads for an explosive exposé, it is only a matter of time before dangerous truths come out. Art begins to imitate life as secrets unravel, masks come off, and classic texts are challenged. In this decidedly murderous exploration into the devilish intricacies of sex, power, consent, and gender politics in academia, three students take control in asking: If Carol was telling the story, wouldn’t John deserve to die?

Convening in a forgotten library, a group of Orthodox Jewish schoolgirls discover a banned copy of The Merchant of Venice and become fascinated with Jessica, the rebellious runaway daughter. Most enamored of all is the discontented Shaina, who dreams of a big world just beyond her community and crushes on a Christian boy from her drivers-ed class. Lines between harsh reality and forbidden fiction begin to blur as Shaina walks a dangerous tightrope between religious and secular worlds. Set in the present day with Early Modern themes, jessica of venice asks what it takes to rip yourself from the home that made you, and what (or who) you destroy on your way out.

Everyone has their secrets, including Lauren - a bookish English major by day, fat fetish camgirl by night. These worlds collide as romance sparks between Lauren and fellow classics-lover Simon, who meet studying Titus Andronicus in their Shakespeare class. The two dive into the play and discover the deep, world-altering nature of pain and trauma – even the fictional kind. In an analysis that borders on the supernatural, this decidedly feminine horror play explores patriarchy’s morbid fascination with and fetishization of violence, fat bodies, and voiceless women.

The hit reality weight-loss competition show GUTS is back with its BIGGEST! SEASON! EVER! There will be grueling challenges, verbal abuses, and – of course – the fan-favorite weekly weigh-ins. But behind the camera, rivalries are forming, romances are blossoming, and friendships are being found in the most unlikely of places. Can these six contestants find self-love, communal healing, and liberation in a place designed to make them hate themselves and their bodies? Do they have the guts?

When religious Jewish teenager Batya becomes pregnant following a one-night stand with van lifer Charlie in a red state in the summer of 2022, they are forced to face their current political moment. Joined by Batya’s best friend, Ellie, the motley crew traverses post-Roe v Wade America in a camper van to the only abortion clinic with an open appointment before it’s too late. As they stare up at the stars in the Middle of Nowhere, USA, the three teenagers confront questions of faith, friendship, and coming of age in the darkest of times. Through the lens of defiant optimism, We Three Aliens considers how we cope with the overwhelming prospect of being alive and alone.

[10-Minute Play] Edith Goldfarb, a 70-year-old Jewish immigrant from Poland, faces off with a police officer on the eve of her expulsion from Boston's West End neighborhood in the Spring of 1960. Summoning up generationally inherited strength, stubbornness, and wit, Edith stands her ground in the home she has built against all odds.

* This piece was originally commissioned for Boston's West End Museum

[10-Minute Play] When monstrous middle schooler Gina crosses the line one too many times, Mr. Phillips calls a pivotal parent-teacher (and Gina) conference.

[10-Minute Play] It's twelve minutes before rehearsal, and Anneke is helping Ethan run his lines. As per usual, Ethan is playing the romantic lead, and Anneke is playing a boy. But is there something Shakespearean brewing beneath the surface for these teenage Orsino and Malvolio?

When overachieving, agreeable, and undeniably fat undergrad Sarah gets cast to play historical sex symbol Helen of Troy in a student production, she and her peers are forced to confront their understandings of beauty, sex, and fatness. To make matters more complicated, a budding tension between Sarah and her on-stage love interest Chris begs the student actors to ask where the characters end and the real bodies begin. With a cast of all-too familiar characters, Power Play puts a magnifying glass to the underbelly of “liberal” and educational theatre-making and the bodies it continues to marginalize.

Margaret My Name is an explosive new cut of Shakespeare's first tetralogy reframed from the perspective of the oft-neglected and villainized Queen Margaret of Anjou. Most popular scholarship ignores Margaret entirely, or else dismiss her as a villain; scholar Harold Bloom goes as far as to call her “termagant,” “any actress’ nightmare,” and “a ghastly widow, for whom Shakespeare never could compose a decent line.” This adaptation strives to tell the gentle, proud, and ruthless Queen Margaret’s story in its entirety, and to explore the capacity of modern artists to reclaim classical narratives for the women who drive them forward