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Larry Rinkel

Recommended by Larry Rinkel

  • DANCING WITH UNICORNS-a very short play by Marj O'Neill-Butler
    9 Mar. 2023
    “ While Mom fantasizes about the cooperative and pleasant family she would like, the reality is that her husband, daughter, and two sons take her for granted and speak to her abusively. But in this clever short play, Mom by the end takes a subtle revenge on the family members who expect her to do their bidding. Unicorns help. ”
  • A Hundred Years by William Meurer
    10 Jan. 2023
    “ A sweet and original take on the Sleeping Beauty story. ”
  • One Job Thou Hadst: Giovanni (Monologue) by David Hansen
    16 Dec. 2022
    “ Excellent! so often these pseudo-Shakespearean monologues and sequels fall flat, but not this time. Hansen does a splendid job in capturing this minor character from R+J, while implicating the foolish Friar Lawrence who fails to tell him of the importance of his mission. Who's next, the Apothecary? ”
  • What to Expect When You're Expecting Our Lord and Savior by Bailey Jordan Garcia
    3 Oct. 2022
    “ I just saw this charming and often hilarious short piece (extremely well-performed) at a 1-act festival in Long Beach, Long Island, NY. With overtones of "Angels in America," Garcia's play plays with concepts of faith, relationships, and mental illness, with a sly wink at the idea that men can get pregnant too. Is Marcus truly pregnant, or is he just self-deluded? After all, if God can do anything. . . . ”
  • HolyMarriage.com by Kate McLeod
    14 Aug. 2022
    “ Kate McLeod has written a lovely and quietly humorous play about a marriage on the rocks between an American man and an East Indian woman. Mark's idea about using an Internet questionnaire to help save the marriage is resisted on all points by his estranged wife Mittie, and yet at the end there is a suggestion that all is not lost between them. Mittie's sardonic witticisms are a high point in this insightful marital drama, which I saw well acted at the Secret Theatre in Queens, NY, in August 2022. ”
  • Penance: by David Hodges
    8 Aug. 2022
    “ The sexually corrupt Confessor-Priest and their Penitent is not an unknown device in drama or other literature, but Hodges gives it new life through the intensity of his dialogue, as well as the relentlessly accusatory tone taken by the Penitent towards the Confessor who apparently abused the Penitent's brother. Who's really the Confessor here, who the Penitent? I'm reminded of Melville's line: "Who's to doom, when the judge himself is dragged to the bar?" Powerful stuff here, as the Confessor at the end is left with nothing but rationalization for his sins. ”
  • Prior Engagement (or the Stairwell Death Play) by Hannah Lee DeFrates
    2 Aug. 2022
    “ Don't concern yourself overmuch about all the plot details; the situation is somewhat surreal, even dreamlike, and the characters (all named for flowers) and their dialogue are what's most compelling in this quietly understated one-acter. A lovely piece, and I look forward to reading more from DeFrates. ”
  • GOING - A Play On Some Phobias... by mb knight
    2 Aug. 2022
    “ Fast-paced and with lively dialogue, MB Knight's Suzee (or Cally in the draft I read) gets by on witticisms and cleverness, while trying to deal with her numerous phobias. An entertaining short play with a challenging female lead. ”
  • Take Our Picture (a ten minute play) by Mark Harvey Levine
    28 Jul. 2022
    “ A commonplace request by a couple to a stranger ("take our picture") starts as innocuously as possible, but then culminates in a three-way fight as all the participants start to realize how truly a photograph captures their inner nature. Watch how Mark Levine masterfully accelerates the tempo over the course of this short play, as what should have been an insigniicant event turns into a mini-battle. Well done. ”
  • Vagabond by Ethan Homeyer
    28 Jul. 2022
    “ An itinerant guitar player who can't stay in one place, and a small-town grade-school teacher who can't leave her Kentucky home. You can sort of see what's coming in Ethan Homeyer's touching, sensitively paced 1-acter, but the end provides a twist that lifts the plot from cliché. Anna and Jacob will likely never see each other again, but their encounter suggests the possibility of change for at least one of them. The bartender is introduced too at appropriate moments to enhance the atmosphere. A nice piece of playwriting here from Mr. Homeyer. ”

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