Recommended by Nora Louise Syran

Thal's play immerses us in the multicultural frenzy and bustling commerce of 17th century Venice -- complete, unlike its "prequel" THE MERCHANT OF VENICE, with its canals! While drawing from Commedia dell'arte's situational comedy, the tale is steeped in tragicomedy as running beneath it all is the ever present lurid antisemitism of Shakespeare's play and the treatment of the character Shylock. Thal "fleshes" out this character, humanizes him and adds moments of levity including my favorite line: "The Inglés wish not to become Escocés. I have seen their plays and they would rather be Italianos." Quite a trip!

Lovers of history and comedy you must "vatch and loin, vatch and loin!" Norkin crafts a period piece which begins with a delightful moment of situational comedy involving a corpse and then moves on to address heavy mid-20th century themes without ever feeling didactic or overly weighty. His characters ring true (even the dead one is fully characterized!), the parallels between Jewish immigrants and Black Americans are poignant, the use of the paint metaphor spot on and the play remains overall hopeful and just delightful. A costumer designer's delight. Norkin shows his "true colors" with this one! Bravo.

Sweet! I just watched Marcia Eppich-Harris's short play produced by the Indiana Ten Minute Play Festival. Sometimes we all just need a little nudge in the right direction. I laughed out loud at the teen's lack of a "thank you" at the end, but perhaps everything in life does even out because its the couple that are truly the grateful ones. Here's the link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DZB31SCLRyY

A lovely two-hander for older actors. The plot starts in media res and the frank, abrupt jump into the characters propels the tension of the play until the conclusion when all becomes clear. Until then, we're on a back and forth sharing of personal, private and dramatic stories ("One time I...") of two people getting to really know --and re-know-- each other. Easy to stage, natural dialogue. Bravo, playwright.

As a mother, a sister, a wife and writer, this play was so intensely relatable. But one does not have to be a woman or hopeful mother to understand the hold that grief, desire, depression, and longing have on us. I was immersed immediately from the start and the story does not let go. It is haunting and yet hopeful; naturalistic in its dialogue and yet darkly poetic. "Whenever there’s unconditional love, they take advantage." Brava, playwright.

As teachers, we learn theories: Gardner's multiple intelligences, Maslow's hierarchy of needs...and the keystone to them all is compassion. Jason standing at mindless attention is not what this--or any country or child--needs. Compassion is the key. While it's easy to blame technology, the solution is always a human one: a passionate teacher with compassion and financial support. This play--performed live to an ever changing audience with their own different biases, perceptions, educational experiences--gets that. Bravo. I enjoyed the world premiere and look forward to hearing more about it soon.

I caught a reading by Miranda Jonte on Back Porch Theater of this lovely piece by Claudia Haas. I love the use of the smiling photo of the mother who oversees her daughter's endeavors to cook and become more and more Italian by doing so. She embraces who she is, her family's legacy: the power of food to bring us together and to help us connect with our true selves and the generations which have gone before us. Love it. https://fb.watch/rez3nHMrx3/

I read this some time ago but still recall the set up and atmosphere perfectly which is a good sign. The premise is engaging. Lots of interesting slow reveals, build up, use of staging--the dancing etc. Cool opening. Kniess makes some good choices in the flashbacks as well. I love history and mystery and I'm sure audiences will too.

Great fun...until it isn't. I appreciated the five 'act' structure of this one act problem play, crisp, unflinching dialogue and perennially relevant subject matter.

I was delighted to recognize facets of Sickles' * inimitable wit in each of these well crafted characters. And I so enjoyed spending time with them, in the same way I'd loved to have been able to curl up with a martini and listen to Noel Coward entertain his friends in the same eponymous spirit of this fun situational and farcical comedy of manners. I laughed out loud at the many snappy one liners and loved the satisfying deneument.

(*yes, I'm consciously punctuating his name a la Socrates!)