Recommended by Michael Tricca

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    With its lean structure and nuanced voice, UPFRONT is an incisive exploration of the stories we tell about ourselves and the things we keep hidden. It's brilliant in how it pulls its characters open with surgical focus and then refuses to judge their contents.

    Read and stage this play to revel in sharp dialogue, complex characters, and compelling themes, all set within the pitiless environs of the entertainment industry; just be careful you don't cut yourself.

    With its lean structure and nuanced voice, UPFRONT is an incisive exploration of the stories we tell about ourselves and the things we keep hidden. It's brilliant in how it pulls its characters open with surgical focus and then refuses to judge their contents.

    Read and stage this play to revel in sharp dialogue, complex characters, and compelling themes, all set within the pitiless environs of the entertainment industry; just be careful you don't cut yourself.

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    Ryan Michael Dunn captures so honestly the gut-wrenching spiral of his protagonist's developing psychological condition as he weaves his sharply-wrought tale. Austin's struggle is rendered with such clarity due to the intelligence with which Dunn imbues his characters; not a single member of this ensemble is wasted, capturing not just Austin's struggle against an uncaring system, but also the struggle to love, the struggle to keep a family together, and the struggle to hold onto one's heart long after it all seems hopeless.

    Ryan Michael Dunn captures so honestly the gut-wrenching spiral of his protagonist's developing psychological condition as he weaves his sharply-wrought tale. Austin's struggle is rendered with such clarity due to the intelligence with which Dunn imbues his characters; not a single member of this ensemble is wasted, capturing not just Austin's struggle against an uncaring system, but also the struggle to love, the struggle to keep a family together, and the struggle to hold onto one's heart long after it all seems hopeless.

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    You Have To Promise is an achingly beautiful piece, one in which the love the characters hold for each other radiates in every moment and glows in every silence. The dialogue is insightful and poignant; Lang has a way of making every word each character says, and everything they don't say, draw you in and capture your attention.
    Structurally, the play moves in a way which beguiles its audience with its turns. I was somehow thankful for the remote viewing; it let me gasp as loudly as I wanted in despair and cheer even louder in joy. Don't miss this.

    You Have To Promise is an achingly beautiful piece, one in which the love the characters hold for each other radiates in every moment and glows in every silence. The dialogue is insightful and poignant; Lang has a way of making every word each character says, and everything they don't say, draw you in and capture your attention.
    Structurally, the play moves in a way which beguiles its audience with its turns. I was somehow thankful for the remote viewing; it let me gasp as loudly as I wanted in despair and cheer even louder in joy. Don't miss this.

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    Politically Erect is an absurd, satirical romp which tears into a political system which is equally absurd. The glee with which Ryan Michael Dunn exposes modern hypocrisy is evident throughout, with laughter to be had in equal measure.

    Politically Erect is an absurd, satirical romp which tears into a political system which is equally absurd. The glee with which Ryan Michael Dunn exposes modern hypocrisy is evident throughout, with laughter to be had in equal measure.

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    Wry, clever, and bitingly human, Peace Talks examines faith, violence, and culture with a grace that feels consistently effortless. When an American student finds himself stranded in a hookah bar a long way from home, his collision with a sharp-witted Israeli man leads him to come to terms with a world which isn't as black and white as he'd thought. Dunn and Salant's intelligent dialogue crackles as these young men dive further and further into what they once thought they believed.

    Wry, clever, and bitingly human, Peace Talks examines faith, violence, and culture with a grace that feels consistently effortless. When an American student finds himself stranded in a hookah bar a long way from home, his collision with a sharp-witted Israeli man leads him to come to terms with a world which isn't as black and white as he'd thought. Dunn and Salant's intelligent dialogue crackles as these young men dive further and further into what they once thought they believed.

  • Michael Tricca: Peace Talks by Izzy Salant
    “

    Wry, clever, and bitingly human, Peace Talks examines faith, violence, and culture with a grace that feels consistently effortless. When an American student finds himself stranded in a hookah bar a long way from home, his collision with a sharp-witted Israeli man leads him to come to terms with a world which isn't as black and white as he'd thought. Salant and Dunn's intelligent dialogue crackles as these men dive further and further into what they once thought they believed.

    Wry, clever, and bitingly human, Peace Talks examines faith, violence, and culture with a grace that feels consistently effortless. When an American student finds himself stranded in a hookah bar a long way from home, his collision with a sharp-witted Israeli man leads him to come to terms with a world which isn't as black and white as he'd thought. Salant and Dunn's intelligent dialogue crackles as these men dive further and further into what they once thought they believed.

    ”