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Jillian Blevins

Recommended by Jillian Blevins

  • All Our Pretty Songs by Christopher Shultz
    29 Oct. 2022
    “ All Our Pretty Songs is a gut punch of a 15-minute play. Sabrina and Jeanine are juicy characters absolutely vibrating with the unique kind of rage born from grief. With tremendous specificity, Schultz economically conveys a complex history in one devastating confrontation. AOPS is a scathing critique of our flawed justice system and the court of public opinion, and an exploration of how the pain of a single tragic event can metastasize, consuming its survivors. ”
  • AFIKOMAN by Sam Heyman
    23 Oct. 2022
    “ A modern family drama rich with complex history and humor, AFIKOMEN makes resonant use of Passover symbolism and explores how shared trauma can leave us lost and broken, or found and on our way to healing. The Rubin’s story is a microcosm of the generational trauma navigated by so many Jewish families. Heyman’s sensitive portrayal of Rivka, a tween trying to understand her father’s hidden history, is especially touching. Jewish readers will immediately find the Rubins familiar, but AFIKOMAN is relatable to anyone trying to find themselves, and to be seen by their loved ones. ”
  • DRINKING WITH MOM'S DOG by Charles Scott Jones
    11 Oct. 2022
    “ Simply put, this piece is remarkable. Both an homage to and a subversion of dysfunctional family plays, Drinking With Mom’s Dog feels like the psychedelic heir to the work of O’Neill and Odets. Jones’ spiky, damaged, aching characters offer much for actors to sink their teeth into, and his playful and poetic use of language is nothing short of masterful.

    Charles Scott Jones might just be my new favorite playwright. Excuse me while I binge the rest of his work. ”
  • Treason at the Globe by Francis RTM Boyle
    10 Oct. 2022
    “ If you’ve ever thought to yourself, “I really like Shakespeare In Love, but I wish it were a little more like Game of Thrones,” then you must read Treason At The Globe. Boyle’s masterful political thriller combines edge-of-your-seat twists and turns and a richly drawn and well-researched historical setting. Boyle cuts through our tendency to romanticize Elizabethan England with razor-sharp dialogue revealing the ruthless political climate roiling underneath. Full of gems for Shakespeare lovers, Treason’s as fun as it is gripping. Like Horatio, we’re immersed in the intrigue from the first lines to the last. ”
  • 153 by Steven G. Martin
    10 Oct. 2022
    “ A meditation on identity, regret, and mortality that’s both melancholic and ultimately hopeful. Martin’s sincerity and vulnerability make 153 especially poignant; it’s clear that this piece comes straight from the heart. It offers exciting opportunities for a director to go all out with maiden/mother/crone imagery (or whatever you call it when it’s a guy) and make bold creative choices. ”
  • Dead White Guys on the Midway by Adam Richter
    10 Oct. 2022
    “ Adam Richter has done it: he’s written a funny play about moral philosophy. With tongue planted firmly in cheek, Dead White Guys On The Midway resurrects two feuding philosophers and highlights the absurdity of their seeming differences, all over a game of ring toss. ”
  • The Cardinal by DC Cathro
    10 Oct. 2022
    “ DC Cathro’s The Cardinal does a rare thing: shows compassion for two people on opposing sides of fraught issues (in this case, religion, sexuality, and the possibility of miracles). Neither character is a stereotype, and the love they share (as well as their complex history) is clear in the text. Cardinal is gentle, in the best possible way. The conflict isn’t explosive; no one is trying to win. Rather, it’s two people struggling to close a distance between them without relinquishing their deepest beliefs. ”
  • Things Needing Explanation by Julia Fisher
    9 Oct. 2022
    “ Julia Fisher’s taut play draws us into the world of a grandmother and granddaughter bonded by their love of detective and mystery novels. As they play a nostalgic crime-solving game (an enjoyable puzzle in and of itself) we get a sense of their connection, along with one of creeping dread that something darker lies beneath.

    The layers of mystery in this play (at least three for us to solve) make it an electric read. Fisher’s clever conceit feels not like a gimmick, but a nuanced exploration of love and guilt that elevates the work in surprising ways. ”
  • Dark, Dark, Dark by Bethany Dickens Assaf
    22 Sep. 2022
    “ Media feasts on the thrill of tragedy as avidly as it insists that it won’t happen to us—not as long as we are smart and informed, right? Dark, Dark, Dark deftly explores victimhood, empowerment, and repression (plus the myth of “protecting yourself” which may sound familiar for listeners of a certain true crime podcast). Through a focused, darkly comic allegory, and always with a light touch, Dickens Assaf challenges our culture’s tendency to obsess over violence and horror while ignoring the bodies in our own backyard. ”
  • CHANGELING by Monica Cross
    22 Sep. 2022
    “ A beautiful fable about one of the great challenges and mysteries of motherhood: we conjure a child into being, and then watch as they become someone separate from us, and different than we ever imagined. In Cross’ fairy-tale, her characters are both totemic and deeply human, evoking the tenderness and tension of the mother-child relationship with spare and impactful poetry. Depicting the messiness and contradictions of motherhood is dangerous and risky ground: Changeling ventures there fearlessly and begs you to go with it. ”

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