Recommended by Rachel Greene

  • meat cute
    14 Mar. 2024
    What a twisted, sweet, disturbing, lovely play! With a surprise every few lines, meat cute had me glued to the page from beginning to end. The characters and their conflicts are incredibly vivid and well woven. Would love to see this play staged one day!
  • Art Gets What it Wants
    18 Jul. 2023
    Art certainly does get what it wants in this sharp, twisting commentary on art-making, relationships, and how the two so messily intersect. Swenson conjures a kaleidoscopic hall of mirrors where the reader/viewer has to simply take the tragic journey along with these flawed protagonists, hoping this time they get it right. A clever, unique, pointed new take on old questions - I can't wait to one day see this play fully staged!
  • Betta Oh (The Dead Pet Plays)
    18 Jul. 2023
    Wow, what a bittersweet, special little play. There is just as much heart in Betta Oh's silence as in its dialogue, a true testament to Daniel's storytelling. A rich concept and text full of potential for actors, directors, and designers, I can't wait to one day see Betta Oh fully staged!
  • The Lost Girls
    5 Jun. 2023
    Where was this play when I was in college????? The Lost Girls is bursting at the seams with honesty, vulnerability, fear, excitement, and very relatable uncertainty. It will make you laugh and scream in equal measure. Making all too real the horror of transitioning from college to "the real world," this is a story that any young person will understand immediately. I cannot WAIT for the chance to see it fully staged!!!
  • The Light Keepers
    5 Jun. 2023
    I had the privilege of watching a reading of this play performed by college students for an audience of their peers, and the impact of the story was palpable and electric. The Light Keepers is full of just that: light. Partain weaves a dark and intricate story and uses it to uncover the sparkle and beauty that lives inside each character. Full of beautiful monologues, rich characters, and relatable scenes, this play will be an instant favorite for high school and college aged performers. I can't wait for the opportunity to one day see it fully staged!
  • Our Play
    5 Jun. 2023
    This right here is a DEEPLY special play. I had the pleasure of seeing a reading performed by college-aged actors and was in awe from beginning to end. The first half will make you laugh so hard you tear up and the twist will gut you. Written with so much heart, filled with nuanced, exciting roles for a large ensemble, this is the play that young people need right now. I cannot WAIT for the chance to see it fully staged.
  • Stupid Little Bugs (A Musical)
    5 Jun. 2023
    This play!!! I had the pleasure of seeing a reading at the Lanford Wilson New American Play Festival and I absolutely fell in love with this story and these characters. A true ode to girls who Care Too Much and Want Too Fiercely, any passionate young person will see themselves in this story. Expansive, nuanced, and full of twists and turns, this play is a new favorite! I can't wait for the chance to see it fully staged.
  • small town icons
    9 Jul. 2022
    I absolutely could not put this play down! Perhaps it is because I was once also a theatre-kid teenager from a small religious town in Ohio, but this play and these characters rang so incredibly true to me. SMJ strikes the perfect balance of dark humor, true trauma and rage, and enticing mystery, all in the neat package of a fast-paced, engaging revenge play. This story is delicious, exciting, and easily one of my favorite plays I've read in recent memory. I can't wait for an opportunity to see it staged!
  • Here's What I Found
    8 Jul. 2022
    Here's What I Found is an imaginative and sobering exploration of the human (or perhaps robot) yearning for connection. Daniel swiftly and expertly builds a compelling world with characters that you want to see succeed in their quest for love. Not to mention, "salad dream ballet" is the stage direction I never knew that I was absolutely missing in my life! I would love to see this beautiful short play fully staged.