Recommended by Tira Palmquist

  • Tira Palmquist: The Moment Before It All Went Wrong by David Hilder
    “

    One of the things that I love about David Hilder's work is that the minute you think you know where the play is going, he deftly and unapologetically uncovers something that you should have seen the whole time. The first pages hooked me. Viveka Granič, the artist, asks, "When a part of our world is collapsing…what do we do?" -- and it's certainly easier for Viveka to answer this question when it pertains to her art -- much harder when it's her own life. Viveka is brutal, brilliant, caustic -- and terribly broken. I adore her.

    One of the things that I love about David Hilder's work is that the minute you think you know where the play is going, he deftly and unapologetically uncovers something that you should have seen the whole time. The first pages hooked me. Viveka Granič, the artist, asks, "When a part of our world is collapsing…what do we do?" -- and it's certainly easier for Viveka to answer this question when it pertains to her art -- much harder when it's her own life. Viveka is brutal, brilliant, caustic -- and terribly broken. I adore her.

    ”
  • Tira Palmquist: the cowboy is dying by Donnetta Lavinia Grays
    “

    the cowboy is dying is an excellent introduction to the smart, gorgeous, funny and heart-breaking work of Donnetta Lavinia Grays. It's not quite enough to say that this is a "coming of age" piece -- though that is part of the joy of it. This is a "coming-into-the-self" piece, and Grays presents a glorious portrait of a young woman who, like in the anecdote she shares about controlling a fire, learns what it is to start the conflagration and to have it fully within her power. the cowboy is dying will surprise you and thrill you.

    the cowboy is dying is an excellent introduction to the smart, gorgeous, funny and heart-breaking work of Donnetta Lavinia Grays. It's not quite enough to say that this is a "coming of age" piece -- though that is part of the joy of it. This is a "coming-into-the-self" piece, and Grays presents a glorious portrait of a young woman who, like in the anecdote she shares about controlling a fire, learns what it is to start the conflagration and to have it fully within her power. the cowboy is dying will surprise you and thrill you.

    ”
  • Tira Palmquist: MUSEUM 2040 by Renee Calarco
    “

    This piece is chilling, funny, smart, terrifying -- in short, an unflinchingly accurate portrait of who we are right now, or who we could become, as a nation. One thing (of the many things) that Renee does so well is to quickly and deftly create clear and specific characters, sometimes in just a line or two. Her facility with language and gesture is enthralling. Someone please do this piece, and soon.

    This piece is chilling, funny, smart, terrifying -- in short, an unflinchingly accurate portrait of who we are right now, or who we could become, as a nation. One thing (of the many things) that Renee does so well is to quickly and deftly create clear and specific characters, sometimes in just a line or two. Her facility with language and gesture is enthralling. Someone please do this piece, and soon.

    ”
  • Tira Palmquist: GLIMMER by Darcy Parker Bruce
    “

    I am so glad to have gotten to know Darcy Parker Bruce and her voice. GLIMMER manages to find the beauty and magic in a decidedly un-magical or un-lovely place. The characters have such compelling desires to find their place in the world -- if not this world, then some other, better world, and I am rooting for them the whole time.

    I am so glad to have gotten to know Darcy Parker Bruce and her voice. GLIMMER manages to find the beauty and magic in a decidedly un-magical or un-lovely place. The characters have such compelling desires to find their place in the world -- if not this world, then some other, better world, and I am rooting for them the whole time.

    ”