Recommended by Matthew Ivan Bennett

  •

    Just do this play. It's clever. It's real. It will draw people in.

    Just do this play. It's clever. It's real. It will draw people in.

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    Easily one of my favorite for-the-stage sci-fi/cli-fi pieces of the past few years.

    Easily one of my favorite for-the-stage sci-fi/cli-fi pieces of the past few years.

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    A perfect blend of Buffy-like fun and cozy mystery.

    A perfect blend of Buffy-like fun and cozy mystery.

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    A zany, creepy, and moving comedy about trying to get ahead and our willingness to believe the unbelievable in order to get ahead.

    A zany, creepy, and moving comedy about trying to get ahead and our willingness to believe the unbelievable in order to get ahead.

  • Matthew Ivan Bennett: macbitches by Sophie McIntosh
    “

    This darkly funny piece has razor-sharp dialogue, mean-girl momentum, and a wicked downturn for its characters right at the end.

    This darkly funny piece has razor-sharp dialogue, mean-girl momentum, and a wicked downturn for its characters right at the end.

    ”
  • Matthew Ivan Bennett: The People Before the Park
    “

    I had the pleasure of hearing this play aloud at Pioneer Theatre Company. It felt like an instant classic to me. It's vividly drawn, lyrical, complicated, and should be produced by regionals across the country.

    I had the pleasure of hearing this play aloud at Pioneer Theatre Company. It felt like an instant classic to me. It's vividly drawn, lyrical, complicated, and should be produced by regionals across the country.

    ”
  • Matthew Ivan Bennett: Circa 1976, or Somewhere in the Suburbs of a Swing State Shaped Like a Mitten by Kenneth Jones
    “

    You can smell the Elmer's glue and hear the plastic recorders in the play. It brings you back to elementary in the warmest and worst ways through its battered, relatable characters. What I dug most in "Circa 1976": its tragicomic take on bullies; its witty breakdown of American culture wars and how they echo the hierarchies of our school days; but above all, I admire the gentleness and subtlety with which Jones treats these people we all know. It's a shot of nostalgia plus humor plus politics plus the reckoning we fear for ourselves and want for others.

    You can smell the Elmer's glue and hear the plastic recorders in the play. It brings you back to elementary in the warmest and worst ways through its battered, relatable characters. What I dug most in "Circa 1976": its tragicomic take on bullies; its witty breakdown of American culture wars and how they echo the hierarchies of our school days; but above all, I admire the gentleness and subtlety with which Jones treats these people we all know. It's a shot of nostalgia plus humor plus politics plus the reckoning we fear for ourselves and want for others.

    ”
  • Matthew Ivan Bennett: Ripped by Rachel Bublitz
    “

    Here is a piece that deftly juggles its timeline, keeping us on the edge of our seats as the story unfolds. It's written with a spareness that underlines, rather than de-emphasizes, the play's ideas. "Ripped" moves along at a jog while never skimping on interiority. The final image is one that Americans need to see.

    Here is a piece that deftly juggles its timeline, keeping us on the edge of our seats as the story unfolds. It's written with a spareness that underlines, rather than de-emphasizes, the play's ideas. "Ripped" moves along at a jog while never skimping on interiority. The final image is one that Americans need to see.

    ”
  • Matthew Ivan Bennett: To Fall in Love by Jennifer Lane
    “

    A taut, richly developed, two-hander that understands the pit of grief.

    A taut, richly developed, two-hander that understands the pit of grief.

    ”