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Daniel Smith

Recommended by Daniel Smith

  • Haunt by Collin Smith
    21 Mar. 2024
    “ A creepy and engaging short horror play that stages a documentary interview with the creator of an extreme immersive haunting experience billed as the "ghost pepper" of haunted houses. Stewart's toxic masculinity offers a toothsome role for an actor, and Milo's suspicious motivations make for an effective complement. As details about pain and torture inflicted on patrons emerge, it becomes clear that the true horror is a lack of consent. ”
  • MELT by Stephanie Alison Walker
    21 Mar. 2024
    “ This is a beautiful short play about climate grief, political polarization, and efforts at intergenerational communication. 19-year-old Molly attempts to convince her grandfather Mac, a 72-year-old glaciologist, to leave a melting glacier and return home with her. I appreciated the dramatic tension and the reversal as the audience would realize that Molly has been a climate change denier and her efforts to rescue Mac are as doomed as his prior attempts to wake her up to the realities of climate science. A very original and moving piece! ”
  • Jean Yeets Her Hawaiian Shirt into the Ocean by Greg Romero
    21 Mar. 2024
    “ I heard about this play before I read it, from someone who found the MATC workshop reading very moving. It was a great read, and I would love to see it staged! The play begins with a breakup and ends with a new platonic supportive relationship forming as two women attempt to heal from their experiences of domestic violence by sharing an excellent crab bisque. Along the way, an abuser is revealed to be a zombie and characters interact with nature as all await a volcanic eruption. ”
  • Abandon All Hope, Ye Who Enter Here by Cole Hunter Dzubak
    20 Dec. 2023
    “ This is a thoughtful and engaging play that meditates on moral and ethical questions, particularly what it means to be "an objectively good person." I saw the student production at Michigan State and was impressed with the variety of roles allowing for actors to explore characters with strong (passionate and misguided) objectives. Design elements can be handled with simplicity. Most vignettes feature 2-4 characters, allowing for an efficient rehearsal process. It would be great to see this produced by other college theatre programs! ”
  • 5 by JuCoby Johnson
    20 Dec. 2023
    “ I saw this play in previews at Jungle Theater in Minneapolis and thoroughly enjoyed it as a complex emotional and intellectual experience. The production was funny, moving, surprising, and thought-provoking. In reading the script, I especially appreciated the supernatural world-building of the stage directions and the aesthetic background of the recommended music selections. Depicting the co-owners of a convenience store as they struggle with gentrification amid signs of the apocalypse, the play uses a small-scale setting to grapple with large-scale questions. What do we do in the face of the inevitable? ”
  • I Didn't Expect Such Humanity (translated from Lucienne Guedes Fahrer) by "C" Heaps
    13 Oct. 2023
    “ A beautiful and horrifying play that tells a story of bullying and scapegoating, eventually offering the scapegoat a voice and a redemptive opportunity for self-actualization by departing the community that attempts to destroy her. Heaps's translation deploys simple yet poetic language, using rhythm and repetition very effectively. This would be a great piece for directors interested in stylized movement/choreography and stage violence. ”
  • See You in a Minute by Jacob Juntunen
    22 Sep. 2023
    “ "See You in a Minute" represents a significant artistic achievement, combining the theatricality and political stakes of the playwright’s early work with a dramatic structure that deftly responds to concerns of past, present, and future. It will be tempting for critics to call it a “quiet masterpiece” full of “emotional truth,” phrases used by characters in the play to describe Thornton Wilder’s "Our Town." The play asks its audience to think about individual choices in situations where structural issues make ethical decisions all but impossible. ”
  • Zombie Thoughts (written with Oliver Kokai-Means) by Jennifer Kokai
    21 Sep. 2023
    “ A thoughtful and engaging interactive hypertext/choose-your-own-adventure TYA play framed as a video game. The audience initially chooses which of two actors will play protagonist Sam and sidekick Pig, then makes various other decisions throughout the play. Pig supports Sam through anxiety about being a hero and going on an adventure, either to Mount Doom or to Whisperrun Ghost Town. The dialogue is humorous, moving, and educational. I would be excited to see a production of this! ”
  • Persuasion by Melissa Leilani Larson
    21 Sep. 2023
    “ This is a brilliant and innovative adaptation of Austen's novel that highlights change over time by casting a Young Anne and Young Frederick to stage memories of the central romance between Anne Elliot and Captain Wentworth. The final scene juxtaposing the younger couple with the more mature couple is just gorgeous. The cast size and literary quality of this script makes it a great choice for colleges and universities. ”
  • The Gentleman Caller by Philip Dawkins
    21 Sep. 2023
    “ I recently saw a beautiful production of this play featuring MFA acting students at Michigan State University! A wonderful, imaginative slice of LGBTQ theatre history featuring dramatically and sexually charged conversations between a buttoned-up (Apollonian?) William Inge and a larger-than-life (Dionysian?) Tennessee Williams. References to the characters' work abound, with Williams narrating in the style of Tom from "The Glass Menagerie" throughout and playing a version of Brick from "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof" in Act II. ”

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