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Brian James Polak

Recommended by Brian James Polak

  • THE SPIN by Spenser Davis
    11 Nov. 2020
    “ Spenser Davis masterfully crafted a piece of theatre for the online medium. This is not a play that is forced into a Zoom, but a play specifically created to be experienced in this way. It is something that feels like a play, film, documentary, and VR experience all in one. ”
  • The Head That Wears the Crown by Hope Villanueva
    20 Oct. 2020
    “ This is a brilliant and powerful play. Villanueva took me inside these complex characters with great skill. This is the type of play, like Sarah DeLappe's The Wolves or Ruby Rae Spiegel's Dry Land, that shows young audiences themselves on stage with recognizable characters, but also gives a pathway for older audiences to engage with, and understand, younger people better. ”
  • Workplace by Alica Daine Benning
    16 Sep. 2020
    “ WORKPLACE is a smartly written gut-wrenching play dramatizing the challenges women face in the workplace when the double standards of duplicitous managers conspire against you. I love the structure of this play as it brilliantly challenged my assumptions with a shifting the point-of-view. This play reminds us that we are the only advocate we can count on when HR stands to support a corrupt organization. This is a great play by an excellent playwright who will no doubt land on many Lit Managers' and Artistic Directors' radars very soon. ”
  • The Berlin Diaries by Andrea Stolowitz
    29 Aug. 2020
    “ This brilliant and moving play has etched a permanent spot in my mind. So much of this piece is unique: it's form and style, it's autobiographical nature, the way it explores family history... I am both moved emotionally and inspired artistically by this play. Stolowitz, through the telling of her own specific story, has crafted a wonderful and universal narrative. ”
  • Recent Unsettling Events by Andrea Stolowitz
    17 Aug. 2020
    “ Recent Unsettling Events is so many things, but first and foremast it is brilliant. Stolowitz demonstrates the complexities of life on a college campus from student to professor to administrator in a way that makes clear nothing is clear. Students fight admirably for agency in their education as professors do their best to please the school and the students while remaining steadfast in their own intellectual pursuits. There are no easy answers and this play leaves you with a great deal to think about when it is over, which is all I want in a play. ”
  • This Much I Know by Jonathan Spector
    12 Aug. 2020
    “ This Much I Know is at turns wildly theatrical and deeply emotional. I love the way it explores the interconnectedness of both people and time with moment after moment and character after character fluidly changing before our eyes. I finished the play feeling like I learned a great deal about plays, history, and myself. It's a highly engaging read and I imagine it would make for an exhilarating production. ”
  • Welcome to Matteson! by Inda Craig-Galván
    10 Jun. 2020
    “ Welcome to Matteson! is a play that belongs in anthologies marking our nation's history. It belongs on our stages as much as in our schools. It is incredibly funny, complex, and real. Inda Craig-Galvan's genius is in the way she pries open every character revealing their heart and soul. Nothing is simple in this play, but it's all feels honest and that's why it's so good. ”
  • Mother Lode by Jenni Lamb
    9 May. 2020
    “ Mother Lode is both painfully funny and painfully real. This play shows the importance of empathy and the care needed for both a child and a mother in a culture that throws judgement around more than it listens to real human needs of a person who is more than a mom. ”
  • HURRICANE(S) by Gina Femia
    3 May. 2020
    “ The conversations these great characters have are so real and familiar, it’s as if I was around a dinner table with relatives. What I love most about this play is how sincere it is. These characters speak their truths, which are the truths of so many people in our country, yet we don’t see them in plays either because of their age and/or their politics. I deeply appreciate Gina showing us these real, honest, aging people as they truly are, warts and all. ”
  • Bender and Brian by Trish Harnetiaux
    30 Apr. 2020
    “ I feel like this play was written specifically for me. It isn't just pulling my nostalgia strings, harkening back to the millions of times I've watched The Breakfast Club, but it's also telling a story about missed opportunities, moving on, and aging. I love everything about this play: its characters, its tone, its completeness. I hope I can be in a theater where Bender and Brian lives one day. ”

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