Recommended by Sam Mueller

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    A triumph of a play about grief. I find myself particularly moved by the overlapping waves of grief as the play slowly becomes an ensemble piece. We are never told that these people are all various years out from losing their person, but instead we feel it. The mundane becomes truly beautiful and living a life, growing, healing is all pulled apart and looked at through the lens of the seasons so that these characters can merely exist in their ongoing feelings. Stunning. Deliciously paced.

    A triumph of a play about grief. I find myself particularly moved by the overlapping waves of grief as the play slowly becomes an ensemble piece. We are never told that these people are all various years out from losing their person, but instead we feel it. The mundane becomes truly beautiful and living a life, growing, healing is all pulled apart and looked at through the lens of the seasons so that these characters can merely exist in their ongoing feelings. Stunning. Deliciously paced.

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    So funny, so full of heart (no pun intended), such good dialogue, such interesting complete characters. I laughed out loud several times in a play that is also emotional devastating. It’s delightfully human and manages to capture the working-class retail experience in perfect detail. Reading this play is like remembering how to breathe deeply.

    So funny, so full of heart (no pun intended), such good dialogue, such interesting complete characters. I laughed out loud several times in a play that is also emotional devastating. It’s delightfully human and manages to capture the working-class retail experience in perfect detail. Reading this play is like remembering how to breathe deeply.

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    Wedding Famous perfectly captures that feeling where everyone else in your life seems to have it all together and you're so happy for them... and also you're really looking for a win in your own life. I love that this play never lets the characters lose their love for one another, even as friendships experience some "for worse" moments. A gorgeous look at love, but specifically platonic love.

    Wedding Famous perfectly captures that feeling where everyone else in your life seems to have it all together and you're so happy for them... and also you're really looking for a win in your own life. I love that this play never lets the characters lose their love for one another, even as friendships experience some "for worse" moments. A gorgeous look at love, but specifically platonic love.

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    GROSS! is one of the most beautiful plays I have read in a long time. What I think Emma does so well is show us the tension of knowing who you are without having the words up against everything you've been taught to think about queerness. The tension is palpable, but stays soft, as all of the characters long desperately for things they cannot have -- whether it be not yet or not ever. It's full to the brim with the fantastic but stays anchored to the ground in a breathtaking way.

    GROSS! is one of the most beautiful plays I have read in a long time. What I think Emma does so well is show us the tension of knowing who you are without having the words up against everything you've been taught to think about queerness. The tension is palpable, but stays soft, as all of the characters long desperately for things they cannot have -- whether it be not yet or not ever. It's full to the brim with the fantastic but stays anchored to the ground in a breathtaking way.

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    I had the privilege of hearing this play out loud recently and it is haunting me in the best way. Emma's characters are complete and complex and the piece has a deep, inherent theatricality that crackles. This story triumphs sisterhood and also showcases a specific intersection of class and gender in the American South without needing to explain or apologize for itself. So exciting, so specific, so full of life.

    I had the privilege of hearing this play out loud recently and it is haunting me in the best way. Emma's characters are complete and complex and the piece has a deep, inherent theatricality that crackles. This story triumphs sisterhood and also showcases a specific intersection of class and gender in the American South without needing to explain or apologize for itself. So exciting, so specific, so full of life.

  • Sam Mueller: A Variation by Susan Yassky
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    I love this play so dearly; it shifts from underneath you every time you think you have it all figured out. Susan Yassky has the ability to write about multiple time periods at once, using the 1840's as a mirror to today's celebrity culture and capitalist, patriarchal vacuum in which creation must occur if an artist wants the chance to be supported by their creativity alone. It's one of the smartest plays I think I've ever read.

    I love this play so dearly; it shifts from underneath you every time you think you have it all figured out. Susan Yassky has the ability to write about multiple time periods at once, using the 1840's as a mirror to today's celebrity culture and capitalist, patriarchal vacuum in which creation must occur if an artist wants the chance to be supported by their creativity alone. It's one of the smartest plays I think I've ever read.

    ”
  • Sam Mueller: This Is Not a Noh Play by Miz Hashimoto
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    This play expertly holds so many things at one time. Miz Hashimoto creates complex and complete characters, all living at the intersection of many different identities. Deeply funny and full of joy, this piece also moves through personal and communal grief in a way that feels both unique and tangible. Every time I have the honor of revisiting this play, I find new layers to both characters within the play and also my own personhood. I look forward to the day I can see a fully-realized production.

    This play expertly holds so many things at one time. Miz Hashimoto creates complex and complete characters, all living at the intersection of many different identities. Deeply funny and full of joy, this piece also moves through personal and communal grief in a way that feels both unique and tangible. Every time I have the honor of revisiting this play, I find new layers to both characters within the play and also my own personhood. I look forward to the day I can see a fully-realized production.

    ”