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Franky Gonzalez

Recommended by Franky Gonzalez

  • Such Good Neighbors, a 10-minute play by Susan Middaugh
    7 Sep. 2020
    “ A play that explores and reveals the fault lines in a relationship. Susan Middaugh has encapsulated in ten-minutes the secrets, revelations, and even jaw-dropping surprises hidden beneath the surface with some and in plain sight with others. A breeze to read the first time, but this play will have you reading it again paying more attention the second time around. ”
  • Exhausted Paint: The Death of Van Gogh by Justin Maxwell
    7 Sep. 2020
    “ Justin Maxwell has created a brash, irreverent solo show circled around the great artist and his passion, disappointments, and probably most importantly, their failures. Breaking the fourth wall in interesting and unconventional ways, Maxwell paints a brief but impactful portrait of Van Gogh through a lens we have yet to see in any previous dramatic interpretation (as far as I know). There's laughs and tears aplenty in this brief but poignant run through a tortured life and a wounded--if sarcastic--soul. Bonus, it doesn't follow any narrative structure (save the bookend scenes), which makes it a different play each performance. ”
  • Marianas Trench (Part One of The Second World Trilogy) by Scott Sickles
    9 Aug. 2020
    “ You will go on a journey. You will go on a heartrending, hilarious, true, and beautiful coming-of-age story in a dystopia that daily looks less and less like fiction and more and more like our inevitable future. Scott Sickles has created at once a love story and an indictment of this country in MARIANAS TRENCH. More people should know about this play. More people should read this play. More people should be clamoring for its production. This play is a bolt of lightning and a call for us all to come to our senses before it's too late. Highly recommend. ”
  • Calling Puerto Rico by Juan Ramirez, Jr.
    26 Jun. 2020
    “ CALLING PUERTO RICO is a richly human work.

    It will make you laugh. It will make you cry. God, it will make you cry. It will grab you with its beautiful characters, with all their flaws, and all their spirit, and they will wring your soul until you feel drained of everything.

    And yet you will still feel, despite all the trials you'll go through in this work, the peace at the coquí sound and radio static.

    Read the play. Better yet, to all the Latinx theatres out there. Produce this play. ”
  • The Venetians by Matt Barbot
    25 Jun. 2020
    “ Barbot has connected the worlds of Titus Andronicus, Romeo and Juliet, Othello, and the Merchant of Venice together to create commentaries that critique the Bard, our society, and an exploration of what it means to assimilate when one has been othered. Barbot's writing blends the Bard's own language into this new take on familiar characters that will make you laugh and cry. There are heartbreaking moments in this play that any minority in this society has gone through in some form. I've never felt so seen by Shakespeare's characters till reading this play. ”
  • Five Boys on the Beach by Matthew Weaver
    2 Jun. 2020
    “ There's an almost mythological quality to this story. As though I read an early story of the birth of love, of camaraderie, of jealousy, heartbreak, and violence. You see it moving. You feel the flow. There's a beauty to the understated direction, but you see it all unfold. A lovely, delicate piece from Matthew Weaver. ”
  • Safe Haven: A Video Call Play by Deb Hiett
    23 May. 2020
    “ Deeply unsettling, wildly realistic, and mesmerizing to read. Deb Hiett has created a play that fits perfectly into the world of Zoom Theatre. Playwrights need to take note of this taut thriller. The subtle shifts in power dynamic here are masterfully done. As soon as you realize one thing, it’s too late. Amazing work. ”
  • AZTEC PIRATES & THE INEQUITY OF SACRIFICE by David Davila
    11 May. 2020
    “ David Davila creates a wondrous exploration of Latinx identity from the perspectives of class, immigration, sides of the law enforcement equation, religion, spirituality, mental health, language, gender, and, yes, even fertility. To say that AZTEC PIRATES & THE INEQUITY OF SACRIFICE is sweeping and large as the history of Latinx people in the United States of America is an understatement. A marvel of a play that continues to give with each new scene and each new read. A truly breathtaking piece. ”
  • Do You Get It by Philip Middleton Williams
    11 May. 2020
    “ It's easy to lose the individual among so many casualties. In this monologue Philip MIddleton Williams reminds us with with heartbreaking honesty of the individuals and what loss, not only families, but entire communities face when they lose even one person to the horrors of war. War is Hell, and this monologue shows that Hell is not just a battlefield where soldiers fall. It's the empty spaces left behind by those who'll never come home. ”
  • The Sweater by Kevin King
    11 May. 2020
    “ The best comedies can get their point across in a few pages. Kevin King knows how to write these kinds of comedies. You feel like you know everyone in this play, and even with its dash of absurdity, there's even some truth to it. If such a scenario were to happen, of course it would be at Starbucks. A great gem of a play. ”

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