Recommended by Heather Helinsky

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    In this political moment, it would seem hard for comic absurdism to compete with the daily news cycle, but the premise of this ten minute play pops over the noise to remind us a tightly written 10 theatrical piece still has impact.

    In this political moment, it would seem hard for comic absurdism to compete with the daily news cycle, but the premise of this ten minute play pops over the noise to remind us a tightly written 10 theatrical piece still has impact.

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    This play lives at the intersection of realities, as everything the character Huey knows from his life aboard the Starship is questioned after Vida's death. The world-building is satisfying to experience as it examines race & class, as the writer balances the contrast of "stark light" that powers the ship and shadows of doubt---what is reality? What is true? Who can be trusted? I was definitely gripped by this tight multiverse narrative, & the feeling of being lost in a world captained by liars.

    This play lives at the intersection of realities, as everything the character Huey knows from his life aboard the Starship is questioned after Vida's death. The world-building is satisfying to experience as it examines race & class, as the writer balances the contrast of "stark light" that powers the ship and shadows of doubt---what is reality? What is true? Who can be trusted? I was definitely gripped by this tight multiverse narrative, & the feeling of being lost in a world captained by liars.

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    When are new renderings of old stories needed? Struve's play OLD BAT has me convinced when I attended the reading at Angels Theatre Company, which really opened up a civic dialogue empowering local women to speak up. YES! There's many well-crafted layers to this play with sharp wit & wisdom. What really got me was the scene when Kira asks Hespera to tell a new story for Berichae the nymph, & the women retell it together. Designers will make this play theatrically stunning, from start to finish.

    When are new renderings of old stories needed? Struve's play OLD BAT has me convinced when I attended the reading at Angels Theatre Company, which really opened up a civic dialogue empowering local women to speak up. YES! There's many well-crafted layers to this play with sharp wit & wisdom. What really got me was the scene when Kira asks Hespera to tell a new story for Berichae the nymph, & the women retell it together. Designers will make this play theatrically stunning, from start to finish.

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    I enjoyed the constant, comic drive that this play about good intentions gone awry has, building to the inevitable conclusion and reversals of fortune. Embedded in this sharp comedy are deeper historical layers of race and class as the two BIPOC women who are recent college graduates and aspiring artists, Tish and Bex, lose their space and sanity as a white woman takes over their NYC apartment. A small cast play that uses comic turns well to raise questions about those who give & those who take.

    I enjoyed the constant, comic drive that this play about good intentions gone awry has, building to the inevitable conclusion and reversals of fortune. Embedded in this sharp comedy are deeper historical layers of race and class as the two BIPOC women who are recent college graduates and aspiring artists, Tish and Bex, lose their space and sanity as a white woman takes over their NYC apartment. A small cast play that uses comic turns well to raise questions about those who give & those who take.

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    This is a play about women who make noise: a climate change communicator & an LA County crisis management worker, and the toll it takes on their own relationship. I can always trust Jennie's plays to be a tense web of issues that are both personal & political, with stylized and symbolic theatricality. Jess is paralyzed with grief, while Bev's fight-or-flight kicks in, and I was kept in suspense if these professionals who trade in adaptation & resilience can withstand their own multiple fires.

    This is a play about women who make noise: a climate change communicator & an LA County crisis management worker, and the toll it takes on their own relationship. I can always trust Jennie's plays to be a tense web of issues that are both personal & political, with stylized and symbolic theatricality. Jess is paralyzed with grief, while Bev's fight-or-flight kicks in, and I was kept in suspense if these professionals who trade in adaptation & resilience can withstand their own multiple fires.

  • Heather Helinsky: Traits by Jeannie Barroga
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    Immediately, Jeannie's TRAITS grabs me with theatrical language & evocative images, flipping my expectations for a narrative of a dysfunctional family of adult siblings, making the familiar feel unfamiliar. How can a deceased parent now feel like a stranger? When the siblings learn of the abduction of a half-sibling who is suffering from an acquired brain injury, how does that hold a mirror up to their own lives? As the siblings wonder, the father's legacy as a 1950s crooner connects them all.

    Immediately, Jeannie's TRAITS grabs me with theatrical language & evocative images, flipping my expectations for a narrative of a dysfunctional family of adult siblings, making the familiar feel unfamiliar. How can a deceased parent now feel like a stranger? When the siblings learn of the abduction of a half-sibling who is suffering from an acquired brain injury, how does that hold a mirror up to their own lives? As the siblings wonder, the father's legacy as a 1950s crooner connects them all.

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  • Heather Helinsky: Beheading Columbus by Diana Burbano
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    The political is always personal and I highly enjoyed the wild ride Burbano takes us on through two sisters reckoning with identity, and what secrets DNA testing unleashes. Through the sisters, we experience both the humor and pain of complex narratives of colorism in families, discovering DNA relatives on Facebook, and dating the well-intentioned white man. This play will leave audiences asking questions of what happens after we open the chaotic box of family history, and how it transforms us.

    The political is always personal and I highly enjoyed the wild ride Burbano takes us on through two sisters reckoning with identity, and what secrets DNA testing unleashes. Through the sisters, we experience both the humor and pain of complex narratives of colorism in families, discovering DNA relatives on Facebook, and dating the well-intentioned white man. This play will leave audiences asking questions of what happens after we open the chaotic box of family history, and how it transforms us.

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  • Heather Helinsky: Marble Rooftop by Eliana Theologides Rodriguez
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    This is written by a confident voice asking generational questions about the mixed messages received about sex, power, peer pressure, and consent. The characters are vivid and brimming with complicated emotions and agendas as one night at a sleepover unfolds. Is the joy of dance that bonds them all empowering or is it just another competitive activity pressuring them to conform to societal expectations for femininity?

    This is written by a confident voice asking generational questions about the mixed messages received about sex, power, peer pressure, and consent. The characters are vivid and brimming with complicated emotions and agendas as one night at a sleepover unfolds. Is the joy of dance that bonds them all empowering or is it just another competitive activity pressuring them to conform to societal expectations for femininity?

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  • Heather Helinsky: Long Layover by Michelle Tyrene Johnson
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    Lorraine is at a crossroads with her career and personal life and this play has me deeply invested in Lorraine's choices. This play affirms mental health, black female friendship, and healthy boundaries, while the writer takes us on a journey where the options are complicated. There is much potential in dramatizing Lorraine's "happy place" and sitting in a liminal space of waiting that is highly relatable, with comic moments that are self-aware, and speeches that paint vibrantly the complicated emotions that can hold one back from personal growth and decisiveness. Wishing this play a swift...

    Lorraine is at a crossroads with her career and personal life and this play has me deeply invested in Lorraine's choices. This play affirms mental health, black female friendship, and healthy boundaries, while the writer takes us on a journey where the options are complicated. There is much potential in dramatizing Lorraine's "happy place" and sitting in a liminal space of waiting that is highly relatable, with comic moments that are self-aware, and speeches that paint vibrantly the complicated emotions that can hold one back from personal growth and decisiveness. Wishing this play a swift journey to production!

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  • Heather Helinsky: My Mother The Sun by Paloma Monfiletto
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    This play has theatrical poetic imagery of the desert, strong female characters, and an ensemble of activists who cope with the mundane reality of tragedy. This play moves fluidly between water and scorching desert, present Earth/soil and intangible spiritual afterlife. There is both the aching feeling of the loss of a mother woven through the whole play while keeping her spirit ever-present and alive. When your rational brain knows your mother couldn't possibly survive that long in the desert, how do you handle your grief and loss in front of your young daughter, who is all you have now?

    This play has theatrical poetic imagery of the desert, strong female characters, and an ensemble of activists who cope with the mundane reality of tragedy. This play moves fluidly between water and scorching desert, present Earth/soil and intangible spiritual afterlife. There is both the aching feeling of the loss of a mother woven through the whole play while keeping her spirit ever-present and alive. When your rational brain knows your mother couldn't possibly survive that long in the desert, how do you handle your grief and loss in front of your young daughter, who is all you have now?

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