Recommended by Asher de Forest

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    I heard someone say that Mathilde Dratwa writes about the things we aren't supposed to talk about. In Dirty Laundry, two of those topics, grief and infidelity, are jumping off points for so much more. Dratwa frankly depicts the pain and ugliness--physical and emotional--that accompany the dying, the dead, and those they leave to mourn them. Yet, even as it refuses to shy away from the painful, ugly facts of life and death, the play is an act of grace and a thing of beauty.

    I heard someone say that Mathilde Dratwa writes about the things we aren't supposed to talk about. In Dirty Laundry, two of those topics, grief and infidelity, are jumping off points for so much more. Dratwa frankly depicts the pain and ugliness--physical and emotional--that accompany the dying, the dead, and those they leave to mourn them. Yet, even as it refuses to shy away from the painful, ugly facts of life and death, the play is an act of grace and a thing of beauty.

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    I was lucky enough to be in the room for a workshop of this--the great Minnesota-man comedy I didn't know I'd been waiting for--and I dream of seeing it fully staged in all its screwball, absurd, queer in every sense of the word glory. Under the hilarious surface, this play gets the sadness of midwest bros, and also the sweetness, the poetry of their speech, and the too often unexplored space for their desires beyond what seems set for them. All this guy praise isn't to ignore the women and the fish, all of whom I will not spoil!

    I was lucky enough to be in the room for a workshop of this--the great Minnesota-man comedy I didn't know I'd been waiting for--and I dream of seeing it fully staged in all its screwball, absurd, queer in every sense of the word glory. Under the hilarious surface, this play gets the sadness of midwest bros, and also the sweetness, the poetry of their speech, and the too often unexplored space for their desires beyond what seems set for them. All this guy praise isn't to ignore the women and the fish, all of whom I will not spoil!

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    I first encountered Stockade back in May in its PlayLabs Festival presentation, one of the best play readings I've seen. Revisiting it now, my already strong desire to see a full production of this play increased! Revealing through the stories of its scared and brave, complicated and loving characters that the personal has always been political, Stockade is a reminder of queer Americans' painful past and a call to action for our present.

    I first encountered Stockade back in May in its PlayLabs Festival presentation, one of the best play readings I've seen. Revisiting it now, my already strong desire to see a full production of this play increased! Revealing through the stories of its scared and brave, complicated and loving characters that the personal has always been political, Stockade is a reminder of queer Americans' painful past and a call to action for our present.

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    Qualities of Starlight is a dark--at times brutally so--comedy on drug addiction that is ultimately hopeful. The characters' voices are clear and distinct. I look forward to reading the rest of Dean's Attapulgus collection, and I hope to see a new production of this relevant piece soon.

    Qualities of Starlight is a dark--at times brutally so--comedy on drug addiction that is ultimately hopeful. The characters' voices are clear and distinct. I look forward to reading the rest of Dean's Attapulgus collection, and I hope to see a new production of this relevant piece soon.

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    That Unbuttoning Virginia is both a comedy about a woman finally taking control of her life near what could soon be the end of it and a fractured family reunion drama is no small feat. But what I really love about this play is that it transcends descriptors like these to become something deeper, funnier, sweeter, and more original than I ever could have expected. In fact, Douglass never takes the expected or easy path here, earning every laugh and every discovery through rich characterization.

    That Unbuttoning Virginia is both a comedy about a woman finally taking control of her life near what could soon be the end of it and a fractured family reunion drama is no small feat. But what I really love about this play is that it transcends descriptors like these to become something deeper, funnier, sweeter, and more original than I ever could have expected. In fact, Douglass never takes the expected or easy path here, earning every laugh and every discovery through rich characterization.

  • Asher de Forest: Party @ the End of the World by Ashil Lee
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    Amidst all the noise of a rowdy high school party leading up to 2012's "predicted" Mayan apocalypse, Party @ the End of the World gives its four main characters earned, natural feeling moments of quiet confession and discovery.

    Amidst all the noise of a rowdy high school party leading up to 2012's "predicted" Mayan apocalypse, Party @ the End of the World gives its four main characters earned, natural feeling moments of quiet confession and discovery.

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  • Asher de Forest: I'll be in my Hanukkah palace by Alexa Derman
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    "I miss this time in my life so dearly," a girl--who we're glimpsing, just for a moment, as a woman--admits near the end of this brilliant comedy about a group of Jewish kids playacting Christianity at a slumber party. When I reached the conclusion, I was dearly missing my version of this time, too. The contours and confusion of being Jewish, probably (definitely) queer, a girl, or maybe not a girl, and NINE (what an age to be!) in the early aughts are observed with a reverence that refuses to infantilize or sanitize. All that, and it's so, so funny.

    "I miss this time in my life so dearly," a girl--who we're glimpsing, just for a moment, as a woman--admits near the end of this brilliant comedy about a group of Jewish kids playacting Christianity at a slumber party. When I reached the conclusion, I was dearly missing my version of this time, too. The contours and confusion of being Jewish, probably (definitely) queer, a girl, or maybe not a girl, and NINE (what an age to be!) in the early aughts are observed with a reverence that refuses to infantilize or sanitize. All that, and it's so, so funny.

    ”
  • Asher de Forest: 3 Parables Because We Must Talk About Cannibalism by Thomas Bryant
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    “Human flesh is the oat milk of steak” is a stupendous line in “Friends for Dinner,” the first parable. I love the second parable, “And I Feel Okay About That,” a monologue with a twist. It’s probably my favorite of this impressive trio. The third parable, “Rat Play,” is deliciously screwed up, too. Bryant has given his actors and his audience great material to chew on. I’m a fan!

    “Human flesh is the oat milk of steak” is a stupendous line in “Friends for Dinner,” the first parable. I love the second parable, “And I Feel Okay About That,” a monologue with a twist. It’s probably my favorite of this impressive trio. The third parable, “Rat Play,” is deliciously screwed up, too. Bryant has given his actors and his audience great material to chew on. I’m a fan!

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  • Asher de Forest: Adam and the Witches by Liv Fassanella
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    "This play is unproducable and I’m okay with that," an early direction in Adam and the Witches reads. The play embraces the sentiment of that stage direction... but what fun it would be to see it produced anyway! Jewishness, queerness, and silliness abound.

    "This play is unproducable and I’m okay with that," an early direction in Adam and the Witches reads. The play embraces the sentiment of that stage direction... but what fun it would be to see it produced anyway! Jewishness, queerness, and silliness abound.

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  • Asher de Forest: 27 Short Plays About Being Murdered in a Hotel by ABBA by William Razavi
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    Unlike the many victims of ABBA's killing spree, the absurdist comedy is alive and well thanks to William Razavi's 27 Short Plays About Being Murdered in a Hotel by ABBA.

    Unlike the many victims of ABBA's killing spree, the absurdist comedy is alive and well thanks to William Razavi's 27 Short Plays About Being Murdered in a Hotel by ABBA.

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