←

Ricardo Soltero-Brown

Recommended by Ricardo Soltero-Brown

  • Apples in Winter by Jennifer Fawcett
    4 May. 2018
    “ As the sole character (ever seen on stage) in this play, Miriam, ponders and expounds fundamental and foundational connections between mothers and their children, it becomes clear what a wreck of nerves she really is. This woman's spirit has been wrung throughout, although it is not extinguished, so she recounts personal memories, cooking, gardening, rituals, and time, associating all she can, applying everything to the narrative, the circumstances, and - yes - baking, in order to find, elucidate, illuminate meaning, reason, and significance from her final testimony, this last effort as (character) witness. Herein lies astonishing beauty, pain, and empathy. ”
  • Silent Sky by Lauren Gunderson
    3 May. 2018
    “ A brilliant, but (according to some) starry-eyed woman is given what she initially considers to be grunt work and still manages to change the world. This piece bursts with poetry while following Henrietta Leavitt's personal and professional journey, all the while managing to remind us of historical context. When the climax comes, the weight of a life's work is genuinely felt. ”
  • CANOPY by Rachael Carnes
    29 Apr. 2018
    “ Carnes' writing, these ten scenes, can be mined and studied for the foundations of drama and dialogue. Her characters are focused on the "here and now," "who's in front of them." It's proper playwriting, even when about tea or aurora borealis; ranging from true, to nervous, to hilarious; always engaging. I have a personal connection and affection for the sandwich, ant, and mug bits. Frances and Dana survive and communicate (or fail to) through conflicts centered on (anti-)change, catching up, food, family. The transitions, portraitures of human behavior, are delightful, extolling human anomalies, busting your gut, melting your heart. ”
  • He's Here by Beaufield Berry
    21 Apr. 2018
    “ This classic tale of a family reunited by death is made alive by Berry's focus on individual, delicate natures. Each member (and the entire unit itself) is an open wound; their ages, their relationships, Berry understands, like August Wilson, that authentic personal Drama, real domestic and social conflict is not found directly in politics but in circumstance. Berry is in tune with everything and the empathy, atmosphere, and insight on display here is exemplary. Heads butt, positions are revealed, found, taken, and we are able to reflect on blood in a communal manner, in a spiritual, and even holy way. ”
  • From the Rubble by Tiffany Antone
    18 Apr. 2018
    “ I enjoyed this play so much that (for me) it was basically a respite from, well, anything else, really - even though it's about, well, everything. I've been doing a lot of reading and these are some of the loveliest characters I've come across in a long time. They're remarkably spirited, vigilant, witty, endearing, hopefull, inventive, and unceasingly genuine despite their circumstances, always trying whatever challenges lie ahead. These are two people I wanted to see succeed again and again, even though they often feel they won't; but I'd argue that that's the point and the sign of good writing. ”
  • For California...With Love, Norma Jeane by Rachel Bykowski
    16 Apr. 2018
    “ Bykowski's 'For California..." is a play that I've been wondering existed. The subject matter pits its heroine into timely and timeless socio-political and economic conflicts that test the boundaries of human perspective and judgment so boldly, the sheer task and completion of it is a moral and artistic accomplishment. A full and faithful production of this script would be hypnotic and breathtaking. Bykowski weaves commentary on not only humans but on technology and the education system as well. With humor then suspense, this reflection on fantasy and reality and the dreams connecting them will jolt audiences to their cores. ”
  • Transfiguration by Jordan Elizabeth Henry
    6 Apr. 2018
    “ How apt this play begins with a bedtime story. Henry takes our hand, guides us through a mystical, mythical, lyrical, Orphian-like journey that Sarah Ruhl or Vonnegut would, my guess is, buy a ticket for. Aristotle's token makes both a case and a comeback here and, boy, is it galvanizing to see. Henry again uses Time better than, or at least as well as, Arthur Miller ever did. Henry's greatest act is to stick with action and refrain from exposition. The play's all atmosphere, which builds to intrigue, into plot, then familial cataclysm; like Kubrick. This's a helluva'n original artist. ”
  • AGENT OF CHANGE by Greg Burdick
    4 Apr. 2018
    “ Karma has caught up and come to collect, or so Vietnam veteran and cancer patient Tom Gardner suggests early on in this disarmingly moving work by Greg Burdick. The plot is so well handled that there actually is an air of fate at work here, nevertheless Burdick's bedridden pilot is drained, drugged, pushed, and taxed - and requires an actor of considerable skill. The most gorgeous component, however, is Dr Keo. It is a testament to Burdick's abilities how engaging this character is when, in her first scene, she's initially committing to bedside manner, but her journey is the heart. ”
  • Sanctuary (a Texas song) by Caridad Svich
    4 Apr. 2018
    “ Every piece for theatre written by Caridad Svich, you can go ahead and rest your bets, will be an awe-inspiring, humbling, and utterly stunning work of art, empathy, and standard. They are visceral, moving, exalted transceivers for the voices mankind minds us to spend time with. Svich's plays are a spiritual experience. 'Sanctuary (American Psalm)' gives us a "road play" traveled by characters who clearly had things to do, but nothing more important right now than taking a (yes, that's right) step. Svich's words, here the roots to movement and music, feel like Wallace Shawn in Sam Shepard country. ”
  • I Lived, In Rancho Tehama by Donna Hoke
    16 Mar. 2018
    “ A play so boldly about numbers you might forget who is telling the story: a child only instantly too wise about the world. The stasis of the child may be the stasis of our country, the U.S.A. Donna Hoke makes moves here that I haven't ever quite come across. This is stunningly deft, poignant writing worthy of any evening or anthology concerning gun control. ”

Pages