Recommended by Anna Tatelman

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    I saw a staged reading of this at Drunken Owl Theatre. What a delightfully unique, quirky rom-com! I loved following both the prelude to the forbidden love story and was enraptured (while laughing) at its execution. And who doesn't love a bunch of good puns?

    I saw a staged reading of this at Drunken Owl Theatre. What a delightfully unique, quirky rom-com! I loved following both the prelude to the forbidden love story and was enraptured (while laughing) at its execution. And who doesn't love a bunch of good puns?

  • GUNKED!

    by Marcus Gorman and Jo Jo Stiletto

    I saw this at Annex Theatre last season and had a lot of fun. This is a very clever, hilarious peek at the backstage shenanigans of producing television for kids in a manner both 'acceptable' to networks and smooth for the production crew. I enjoyed the mixture of sitcom antics with the more macabre moments.

    I saw this at Annex Theatre last season and had a lot of fun. This is a very clever, hilarious peek at the backstage shenanigans of producing television for kids in a manner both 'acceptable' to networks and smooth for the production crew. I enjoyed the mixture of sitcom antics with the more macabre moments.

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    I had the delight of serving as the dramaturg for this play during the We Need New Plays festival. This play is a wonderful satire of so many things -- modern office life, the amicable brutality of some lawyers, and the conviction that we all deserve our day in court, no matter why. It's funny and it makes you think!

    I had the delight of serving as the dramaturg for this play during the We Need New Plays festival. This play is a wonderful satire of so many things -- modern office life, the amicable brutality of some lawyers, and the conviction that we all deserve our day in court, no matter why. It's funny and it makes you think!

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    I saw this play at ACT in Seattle and later at the Detroit Rep. It is a testament to the strength of this script that both productions were unique and riveting, but captured the same core emotions -- fear, hope, cruelty, rigidity, love -- through a well-paced, ensemble-driven work. Seeing this play is like getting a master class on how to create a play that truly centers a place as its protagonist while still depicting flawed, yet deeply human, individuals.

    I saw this play at ACT in Seattle and later at the Detroit Rep. It is a testament to the strength of this script that both productions were unique and riveting, but captured the same core emotions -- fear, hope, cruelty, rigidity, love -- through a well-paced, ensemble-driven work. Seeing this play is like getting a master class on how to create a play that truly centers a place as its protagonist while still depicting flawed, yet deeply human, individuals.

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    Memory plays can be tough to pull off, but Laura King does so deftly in Memory Box by embuing both past and present narratives with a sense of urgency and a conflict that barrels forward whether the characters are ready or not. The people in this play are fundamentally good, but sometimes make wrong choices, which lends a dose of sympathy too.

    Memory plays can be tough to pull off, but Laura King does so deftly in Memory Box by embuing both past and present narratives with a sense of urgency and a conflict that barrels forward whether the characters are ready or not. The people in this play are fundamentally good, but sometimes make wrong choices, which lends a dose of sympathy too.

  • Anna Tatelman: STRAUSS'S HOUSES by Jerry Polner
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    With biting snark and quick wit, Strauss's Houses examines the idiosyncracies of the middle and upper middle classes through the real estate market, the showmanship of the court of law, and our obsession with minutea like pie crusts. Though this play is a satire, and a brilliant one at that, Jerry Polner also gives his characters a dose of heart and sympathy. A solid piece!

    With biting snark and quick wit, Strauss's Houses examines the idiosyncracies of the middle and upper middle classes through the real estate market, the showmanship of the court of law, and our obsession with minutea like pie crusts. Though this play is a satire, and a brilliant one at that, Jerry Polner also gives his characters a dose of heart and sympathy. A solid piece!

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  • Anna Tatelman: Stop the Show! by Larry Ring
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    Looking for a comedic play with a large cast that tackles the familiar meta-narrative of "let's watch 'em put on a play," but with some unexpected twists? This is the script for you. This entertaining play shows us all the drama, both on stage and behind the scenes, of staging a new work unprepared for the world (or is the world unprepared for the play?).

    Looking for a comedic play with a large cast that tackles the familiar meta-narrative of "let's watch 'em put on a play," but with some unexpected twists? This is the script for you. This entertaining play shows us all the drama, both on stage and behind the scenes, of staging a new work unprepared for the world (or is the world unprepared for the play?).

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  • Anna Tatelman: St. John of Suburbia by John Patrick Bray
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    Does reality consist of our external actions, the menagerie of thoughts clamoring through our heads, or the narratives we tell ourselves and others? St. John of Suburbia soundly answers: all of the above. This highly inventive play takes us deep into the psyches of and narratives told by its principle characters, showing how all the raucous noise in our heads -- the stories we've told and heard, from Biblical ones to smut -- irrevocably shape our lives.

    Does reality consist of our external actions, the menagerie of thoughts clamoring through our heads, or the narratives we tell ourselves and others? St. John of Suburbia soundly answers: all of the above. This highly inventive play takes us deep into the psyches of and narratives told by its principle characters, showing how all the raucous noise in our heads -- the stories we've told and heard, from Biblical ones to smut -- irrevocably shape our lives.

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  • Anna Tatelman: SPIDER by Madeleine Adriance
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    Lots of works of art tackle subjects like media saturation and school shootings, but few do so with the nuanced sympathy, curiousity, or wisdom of SPIDER. This play highlights the uncomfortable ways that both YouTube sensations and school shootings are glamorized briefly by the media, then forgotten. This is a play that you cannot just walk away from after reading or seeing, and that is a blessing.

    Lots of works of art tackle subjects like media saturation and school shootings, but few do so with the nuanced sympathy, curiousity, or wisdom of SPIDER. This play highlights the uncomfortable ways that both YouTube sensations and school shootings are glamorized briefly by the media, then forgotten. This is a play that you cannot just walk away from after reading or seeing, and that is a blessing.

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  • Anna Tatelman: 53% Of by Steph Del Rosso
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    I saw this play at Sound Theatre a few weeks ago. Steph Del Rosso does a wonderful job in each vignette of both lending her characters compassion while picking apart their hypocrisies with absolutely no mercy. Neither the left nor the right comes off as "the good guys" in this piece, which is an admirable and daring choice for our highly polarized country.

    I saw this play at Sound Theatre a few weeks ago. Steph Del Rosso does a wonderful job in each vignette of both lending her characters compassion while picking apart their hypocrisies with absolutely no mercy. Neither the left nor the right comes off as "the good guys" in this piece, which is an admirable and daring choice for our highly polarized country.

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