Recommended by Doug DeVita

  • A Kreutzer Sonata
    4 Nov. 2019
    A wonderful coming of age story, at once both contemporary and ageless, and so relatable to any one who has ever had to grow from the safety of one's upbringing into the world at large in order to realize one's dreams, as well as who they are and their place in the world. Beautiful. (BTW and FYI: listening to The Kreutzer Sonata while reading it gives an added depth to the experience.)
  • The Late Great Henry Boyle
    4 Nov. 2019
    David MacGregor's cautionary tale is a funny, touching, and thought-provoking comedy-drama that shines a spotlight precisely where its protagonist "hero," the titular late, great Henry Boyle, doesn't want it: on the effects of un-wanted fame, and the relatively simple joys of living one's life as a non-entity.
  • (SHORT DUMBSHOW:) The Train
    3 Nov. 2019
    Delightful piece with a compelling story and relatable characters, and endless possibilities for rich visual staging. Charming, lovely, and heartwarming.
  • A Better Boy
    1 Nov. 2019
    Some things never change, and despite the passing of more than twenty years since it was written (and filmed as "All The Rage"), Roland Tec's "A Better Boy" is still a sharp, scathing, funny, and ultimately touching look at the perpetual search for that indefinable "something or someone better" waiting just ahead of the curve.
  • Passing On
    1 Nov. 2019
    Touching, funny, heartbreaking, and terse, with beautifully drawn characters, "Passing On" tackles some thorny issues with grace, wit, and aplomb. Questions are asked for which there are no easy answers, decisions are made without judgment, and one is left wondering "How would I react in the same situation?" and one wonders long after the play is over.
  • Have Patients
    1 Nov. 2019
    Charming, whimsical, and absurdly funny piece, with five fun roles, especially for Walter, the not-quite-human/not-quite-dog – the physicality required could be outrageously scene-stealing – and for thoroughly confused Millie, the new receptionist. Wonderful.
  • Conflict House
    1 Nov. 2019
    An acutely observed satire, Steve Moulds' "Conflict House" deftly mixes reality TV, scientific research, Stockholm Syndrome, and the classic situation of a group of disparate people locked in a confined space, stirs, and bakes up an outrageously funny and frightening tale of a dystopian world not far removed from the realities of every day life. The paranoiac tension rises steadily, as do the laughs, uneasy though they may be.
  • Three Drunk Poets Find God
    29 Oct. 2019
    Three poets wander into a wood... and the punch lines write themselves in this imaginative, literate, and howlingly funny short in which Gacinski does what he does best: mix poetry and drama seamlessly into stylish theatricality.
  • Lady Liberty is Losing Her Vision (A Monologue)
    28 Oct. 2019
    It’s fitting I should read “Lady Liberty Is Losing Her Vision” this morning, the 133rd anniversary of La Liberty’s dedication in New York’s harbor. In Lee R. Lawing’s metaphorically allegorical monologue, she is a tired, ailing lady, not unaware of her plight but determined to stay the course. A sobering but hopeful piece, I can only imagine how moving it is when brought to life by a skilled actress; just reading it was a sobering but hopeful — and touching — experience.
  • ZEN & the Art of Mourning a Mother
    27 Oct. 2019
    Complex in its structure, ambitious in its scope, and altogether heartbreaking in its depiction of what might, and what never, could have been, Goldman-Sherman's "Zen & the Art of Mourning a Mother" hits several bullseyes all at once. And in a stroke of genius, each of her five characters represents a stage of grief, and it is a spectacular conceit, spectacularly achieved; each character is so clearly delineated, yet the seams never show. Beautifully done, all the way through.

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