Recommended by Matthew Weaver

  • LANDSCAPE
    26 Feb. 2022
    Accuardi takes one of the strangest, most infamous and hilarious moments from the 2020 election and injects humanity - an accomplishment in and of itself - into it. We get the everyday goings-on of life at Four Seasons Total Landscaping and its neighboring businesses - college papers, broken relationships, old hurts, daily ennui. The loveliness of the mundane. And then a political clusterfuck that remains compellingly inscrutable. Absolutely fantastic. Loved every minute.
    "The playwright doesn't know either. She made all this up."
    I hope this is all true. I really do.
    Until I hear otherwise, it is.
    Maybe even then.
  • The Youtube Comments Section of “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald”
    19 Jan. 2022
    A stirring piece of theater that strives to capture the scope of humanity - and does so triumphantly.
    Makes me think of Ruben Carbajal's found dialogue pieces, which is very much intended as a compliment to both Stevens and Carbajal.
    We all know not to read the comments, but Stevens dares us to do so, and looks beyond the surface to find something as lovely and haunting as the Gordon Lightfoot ballad. Everything the aliens or future sociologists want to know about society today is here.
    Powerful.
  • They Bumped the Lantern Over Just Before the Play Began
    18 Jan. 2022
    An utter joy to come upon a play that PLAYS.
    Kirkman here plays with light - there is none - and sound - there are so many - and words on the page and up upon the stage. We might not have ever been in Jedidah and Wayne's exact shoes - but then again, we have all been where they are now. Lost. Utterly hopeless. Trying not to panic. And what was that whisper?? Finding our way through the darkness. We hope.
    This play is a pleasure because you can see how much pleasure the playwright took in crafting it.
  • Hibernation
    18 Dec. 2021
    A lovely winter's tale, packed with heat and wit (which, in Sickles' hands, is often very much the same thing). Max, Gunnar and Ingrid all find a way to warm their hands against the heartache and nourish themselves from the cold. Laced with a tender sadness, yes, but also criss-crossed with hope and warm humor.
  • "THE RODINS ARE HERE!"
    22 Nov. 2021
    A marvelous "What If?" of a meal that anyone would give their eyeteeth to attend, without any of the actually having to be there for the entire duration.
    As a fellow artist, I understand completely the moment where Rodin brings out his block of marble. I am sure my family members and friends relate to this quite differently.
    Sickles, that charming rogue, has the uncanny ability to dwell handily in both high-brow concept and slapstick humor and RODINS is an exquisite marriage between the two. It's ridiculous, it's silly, it's FUN! Full of bon mots, all precisely the mot juste.
  • MABEL TALKS
    17 Nov. 2021
    This one-woman show offers all Hoke's signature hallmarks in their finest form: An in-depth look beneath the surface of a Hollywood starlet's life and career.
    Here Hoke gives Mabel Normand, the female Charlie Chaplin, the first woman ever to be tied to a railroad track, her chance to share her story, and it is riveting. Hoke does a thorough examination and an enviable job of putting Mabel's life in the context of the time and setting (misogny and sexism are ever-present). A star of the silver screen, long ignored and forgotten, unearthed, and Hoke gives her back her voice.
  • Fever Dream
    9 Oct. 2021
    Prillaman had me from the opening, frank discussions between the characters. Then he pitches us into a nightmare that's even more unsettling because it's all too plausible. It certainly hits in a different way now, in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic.
    If you weren't already a Prillman fan before reading this (I was), I strongly suspect this will make you one. God, I love how he does so much even in his quietest moments.
    Prillaman says he doesn't know exactly what this play is. I'm pretty sure, Daniel, what we're looking at here is an instant classic. Well done.
  • Of Night and Dark Obscurity
    9 Oct. 2021
    Ooooooooooooh, another dark offering from the author of TARTARUS. Sickles offers an otherworldly, Gothic tale tinged with violence and grief and heartbreak. Jessa and Quinton do a danse macabre in the darkness.
    Sickles' words are always a delight, but he's particularly at his best when he's sending shivers up and down your spine.
  • Old Norse Love Aria (a short pantomime)
    8 Oct. 2021
    For those of us who love Sickles' gift for dialogue, he is equally adept with action. OLD NORSE LOVE ARIA is a beautiful, funny, haunting pantomime that feels at once like something true and something we would witness in a dream. I was particularly touched by the image of the ring bearer and flower girl seeking refuge.
    Sickles is SO gifted at words that while reading his descriptions, I literally could hear the howling wind and feel the cold.
    Audience goers are equally fortunate whether Sickles elects to speak up, speak out or be silent. This is lovely, lovely, lovely.
  • Does She Exist?
    29 Aug. 2021
    A superb capture of such strange modern times. Kingsley adeptly tells a story that is very of the now, with a clever mystery and use of technology available to us now, particularly during the pandemic, while giving us an important, oft-neglected viewpoint. You will feel the isolation breathing down your neck. A very important play; consider it for your Zoom productions and festivals. Exceedingly well done.
    I enjoyed a Zoom performance of DOES SHE EXIST? during Playwrights Playground at Stage Left Theater in Spokane, WA.

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