Recommended by Deb Hiett

  • This Will Be Our Year
    18 May. 2020
    An enthralling delve into a difficult and compelling relationship. MacLean really knows how to write bravura roles for actors, and any actor would be lucky to land in a production of this play, particularly if they are playing Hugo or Gen. The roles are packed with humor, passion, guilt, selfishness, need, longing, and most of all, love. You root for them, want to warn them, love to weep with them. This play stays with you. Beautifully done.
  • REBEL
    18 May. 2020
    What a wonderfully unexpectedly sweet ten-minute play! I loved the way it captured the limits of anxiety, the pressures of loving something greater than yourself, and our cravings for certain "versions" of family. Walker has a gift of expressing a lot of character in a very few words. A refreshing read, that ends with a smile -- a much needed antidote these days.
  • First Chair
    11 Jan. 2020
    What a sweet ten-minute piece! Koppen has a perfect balance of song and movement and character conflict, all while peppering the piece with great comic lines. The play captures the back and forth of married life and the duet of compromise. I love that it ends on an unexpected "note" also. :) This would be a crowd-pleaser!
  • EIGHT NIGHTS
    10 Jan. 2020
    One of the most moving plays I've ever had the pleasure of reading. What is exceptional about Maisel's play is the deft touch with which she guides you through these intertwined lives. There is not a false note or pushed moment of exposition, or over-explanation. She trusts you to get it, to piece it all together -- so when you do, it absolutely takes your breath away. The audience is carried along by a masterful writer, on a powerful spiritual journey. I just loved it.
  • THE ABUELAS
    4 Nov. 2019
    A beautifully rendered reminder of how ancestral trauma lingers, and how it can be overcome. How do you handle learning of a family lie that undermines everything you know about yourself? Compellingly woven throughout is a valuable history lesson that I would guess most Americans don't already know. Multi-layered and complex, this play reaches through history in order to heal.
  • She's Not There
    28 Oct. 2019
    What a moving play. Within the first few pages, you are drawn into the lives of these clever, complicated people. The dialogue is sparkling and powerful and funny and devastating. MacLean has succeeded in conveying clinical depression in a startling theatrical way -- you really need to read it to understand how -- and it allows the reader to have a level of compassion for the character in a totally unique way. I can't imagine anyone not being moved by this play, whether or not they know anyone suffering from clinical depression or not. Highly recommend.
  • Four Chambers
    9 Oct. 2017
    What a beautiful play about life after loss. Lisa has created some heartbreaking/wonderful roles for actors, and crafted a achingly lovely story about "living in the gray," redemption, and forgiveness. Highly recommend.
  • Death and Cockroaches
    14 Sep. 2017
    You have got to read this play. It is wonderfully irreverent and bawdy and fun, but the deeply realized themes of grief/loss, family dynamics, and self-exploration really moved me. I think it's because Eric writes with such personal fierceness and honestly. And of course because there is a totally sexy, Cher-loving cockroach who gives great advice. I'm just saying, you really should read it.
  • FRIENDS WITH GUNS
    13 Sep. 2017
    Stephanie's gift of writing wonderfully natural yet passionate dialogue is in full strength with this play. These well-drawn characters deftly pulls the reader into both sides of the highly-charged conversation of gun ownership. It is at turns funny and poignant and harrowing and cringe-inducing. Great roles for good actors. I love this play.
  • Welcome to Keene, New Hampshire
    3 Aug. 2016
    I found this play to be so beautifully crafted and moving. The many characters are all deftly drawn with heartbreaking skill. It's a sharp-eyed commentary on how small-town society has shifted into shadows that Thornton Wilder could never imagine. Brian is such a talented writer.

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