Recommended by Michael C. O'Day

  • The Poet, The Spy, and the Dark Lady
    4 Jun. 2022
    What a delight to encounter a script about Shakespeare, Marlowe, and Bassano which actually does justice to them - presenting them not as bland historical figures in some costume drama, or (shudder) as pawns in some ridiculous conspiracy, but as engaging, richly detailed, flesh-and-blood human beings. Which is not to say that this isn't a costume drama about a conspiracy - about several, actually, all of them doozies - but that everything stems naturally from these complicated, fully realized people. A blast.
  • No Encore?
    20 May. 2022
    Most of us working in the arts these days, with a half-dozen possible apocalypses hanging over our heads, wrestle with a deep worry that our efforts may all be for nothing. Speiss' dark and delightful comedy literalizes this fear in weirdly cathartic fashion, leading to a (literally) killer punchline.
  • Everything Indian
    28 Apr. 2022
    It's kinda hard for diversity and inclusivity initiatives to work when they're spearheaded by people as narcissistic as showbiz people, or as privileged as Broadway producers - a truth this play knows deep in its bones. Shenoy's glorious takedown is beautifully constructed, leading to a brutal punchline.
  • Rage Play
    19 Apr. 2022
    A dazzling, ferocious mix of RASHOMON, Ionesco, and Third-wave feminism. Shenoy isn't content just to comment on our culture of sexual violence, and our fumbling ways to come to terms with it. Instead, she takes on the narratives we tell ourselves to justify our actions, the narratives we use to conveniently judge others, and ultimately, the ethics of narrative itself - all without ever losing sight of the piece's moral core of anguished outrage. Funny, scary, and vital.
  • The Taste of Emeralds
    10 Apr. 2022
    As somebody who has private in-jokes with family members about our terrifying shared backstory - and who has pulled moldering doll parts out of said family's attic - I can attest to the underlying truth of Dellagiarino's marvelous, mordantly funny, genuinely scary ghost story. It keeps you guessing whether the central spectre is supernatural, a manifestation of mental illness, or of generational trauma - until you understand Dellagiagino's dark insight that there's ultimately not much difference between these.
  • You've Reached Justin
    10 Mar. 2022
    Twisted, terrifying, and delightful. St. Croix manages the impressive feat of crafting a double metaphor here; Daniel's odyssey past rampaging monsters and club kids reflects both the fears inherent to romantic commitment, and the brave absurdity of keeping on with our normal lives in the face of whatever apocalypse is unfolding this week. A joy.
  • Bedford and Squalor
    3 Mar. 2022
    The story of young artists trying to Figure Things Out may be timeless, but there's a canny brilliance in Hill's setting his tale in the New York of the early 90s - the last generation to wrestle with manual typewriters, who can't solve their problems with a single text message, who lament the loss of the opportunities which a previous generation took for granted, without realizing just how ephemeral their own golden age will prove to be.

    Stylish and smart - and the final lines of dialogue will break your heart.
  • Theatricide
    21 Feb. 2022
    A giddy, gleeful spoof of theatrical pretension from someone who knows exactly where to aim. Imagine the works of Antonin Artaud done as a Vincent Price movie and you'll get a sense of the fun to be had here.
  • Customary Monsters
    21 Feb. 2022
    There's a paradox at the heart of our relationship with the so-called "Western Canon:" stories of elemental passions that we've transformed into Holy Scriptures, a way of clinging to an air of respectability while indulging our basest desires. Kyle Therral Wilson's drama tackles this head-on, exploring the intersection of culture, class, sex, power, and all the ways we can rationalize being monsters.
  • TOUCH MY HEART MASTERPIECE
    21 Feb. 2022
    A poignant, lyrical, and disturbing meditation on how past sins and trauma have a way of festering and intensifying with time, despite our attempts to heal or transmute our pain into art. Life as a futile attempt to understand a painting that's been painted by a blind man - that's a potent metaphor Chikazunga has crafted here.

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