Recommended by Zoe Senese-Grossberg

  • A perfect delightful hysterical pastiche with such heart and such sharp humor. I loved every second of reading this and how it retained both heart and brilliant comedic timing. Has stayed with me long after and I dream to see it staged- a gentle and honest examination of fan culture that having followed Leiber as a writer feels a PERFECT thesis of her (all brilliant) work.

    A perfect delightful hysterical pastiche with such heart and such sharp humor. I loved every second of reading this and how it retained both heart and brilliant comedic timing. Has stayed with me long after and I dream to see it staged- a gentle and honest examination of fan culture that having followed Leiber as a writer feels a PERFECT thesis of her (all brilliant) work.

  • I cannot stop thinking about (and raving about!) this play since I saw it this summer at the Tank. An absolutely brilliant absurdist romp that gave me everything I didn't know I wanted. Deeply affecting and absolutely hilarious- with some of the best holocaust jokes in any piece. Burger, Fuck, Mother, and Father are such real people despite the absurdism of the play, wonderful hysterical and meaty roles for actors. A play about how our mothers are people and what the fuck do we do with that?

    I cannot stop thinking about (and raving about!) this play since I saw it this summer at the Tank. An absolutely brilliant absurdist romp that gave me everything I didn't know I wanted. Deeply affecting and absolutely hilarious- with some of the best holocaust jokes in any piece. Burger, Fuck, Mother, and Father are such real people despite the absurdism of the play, wonderful hysterical and meaty roles for actors. A play about how our mothers are people and what the fuck do we do with that?

  • Malley is one of the few playwrights still writing GREAT roles that actors would dream to sink their teeth into. Najla and Jawad are two such roles. It is also so fantastic to read a play that begs you to sit in its discomfort and contradictions. A lesser playwright would want you to overlook that both Jawad AND Tommy face legitimate terror (and attraction for each other) but the play's brilliance is it never lets you escape the impossible situation all 3 central characters have been placed in.

    Malley is one of the few playwrights still writing GREAT roles that actors would dream to sink their teeth into. Najla and Jawad are two such roles. It is also so fantastic to read a play that begs you to sit in its discomfort and contradictions. A lesser playwright would want you to overlook that both Jawad AND Tommy face legitimate terror (and attraction for each other) but the play's brilliance is it never lets you escape the impossible situation all 3 central characters have been placed in.

  • A beautiful and unconventional piece that defies the typical fare by early career playwrights. Sophie McIntosh crafts a fantastic world and builds characters who are once familiar and terrifying. Lyrical, lovely, and empathetic- I am sure this play will be done a thousand times over.

    A beautiful and unconventional piece that defies the typical fare by early career playwrights. Sophie McIntosh crafts a fantastic world and builds characters who are once familiar and terrifying. Lyrical, lovely, and empathetic- I am sure this play will be done a thousand times over.

  • One of the best new plays I have seen in years. Brilliant, multilayered, and funny- absurd but SO accessible. It is a play that knows exactly what it is doing and forces you to go along with it. Nothing in it is spoonfed and it allows itself to be deeply contradictory and uncomfortable. So well structured too, grounding its absurdism in a fantastic protagonist who feels deeply human and so urgent in her quest. Such a pleasure to get to see it and hope it is done a thousand times over.

    One of the best new plays I have seen in years. Brilliant, multilayered, and funny- absurd but SO accessible. It is a play that knows exactly what it is doing and forces you to go along with it. Nothing in it is spoonfed and it allows itself to be deeply contradictory and uncomfortable. So well structured too, grounding its absurdism in a fantastic protagonist who feels deeply human and so urgent in her quest. Such a pleasure to get to see it and hope it is done a thousand times over.

  • Zoe Senese-Grossberg: demolition

    A beautiful tone poem that is both universal and heart wrenchingly specific. Begins in the familiar trappings of the college kid party drama and then quickly reveals itself as something far more lyrical and introspective. The inclusion of the protagonist tutoring a tween adds the perfect element of the moment in your early 20s when you are forced to confront that you are no longer actually a child and your mistakes are your own. A terrifying little play that stayed with me for a long time.

    A beautiful tone poem that is both universal and heart wrenchingly specific. Begins in the familiar trappings of the college kid party drama and then quickly reveals itself as something far more lyrical and introspective. The inclusion of the protagonist tutoring a tween adds the perfect element of the moment in your early 20s when you are forced to confront that you are no longer actually a child and your mistakes are your own. A terrifying little play that stayed with me for a long time.

  • Zoe Senese-Grossberg: the old jew who begat scrooge, on his deathbed

    Sharp, funny, and at times so surprisingly beautiful. Asks all the questions about Jews in the literary canon that every Jewish reader and writer has ever been troubled by.

    Sharp, funny, and at times so surprisingly beautiful. Asks all the questions about Jews in the literary canon that every Jewish reader and writer has ever been troubled by.

  • Zoe Senese-Grossberg: i can fix him

    A play that both treats its absurd subject matter with empathy and self seriousness while always having the ability to turn around and laugh along with them. "i can fix him" GETS these types of teenage girls, gets the need behind their boy worship, and loneliness they fill with self importance. It tells a story relying well on the tropes of both mob and high school movies, chock full with betrayals, schemes, and an impenetrable social code, but so effectively uses the theatrical medium. Very producible and skin crawlingly relatable.

    A play that both treats its absurd subject matter with empathy and self seriousness while always having the ability to turn around and laugh along with them. "i can fix him" GETS these types of teenage girls, gets the need behind their boy worship, and loneliness they fill with self importance. It tells a story relying well on the tropes of both mob and high school movies, chock full with betrayals, schemes, and an impenetrable social code, but so effectively uses the theatrical medium. Very producible and skin crawlingly relatable.

  • Zoe Senese-Grossberg: speaking strictly for me

    A brilliant and lyrical short play that resists the need to have an easily digestible "bit" but instead lets the viewer luxuriate in the pain and tragic romance of its situation. Sarah Jae Lieber's triumph comes both in the emotional honesty of this play as well as in all its surprising moments of humor and levity, resisting the sappier and more stereotypical impulses a story like this might have.

    The characters are sharply human despite their mythos yet the original songs themselves are almost hilariously accurate to the source material. Overall, it is a truly lovely meditation.

    A brilliant and lyrical short play that resists the need to have an easily digestible "bit" but instead lets the viewer luxuriate in the pain and tragic romance of its situation. Sarah Jae Lieber's triumph comes both in the emotional honesty of this play as well as in all its surprising moments of humor and levity, resisting the sappier and more stereotypical impulses a story like this might have.

    The characters are sharply human despite their mythos yet the original songs themselves are almost hilariously accurate to the source material. Overall, it is a truly lovely meditation.