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Matthew Weaver

Recommended by Matthew Weaver

  • Pep Talk - a monologue by Hayley St. James
    8 Dec. 2020
    “ Who hasn't had this moment of hope and fear and anxiety and excitement. St. James is a maestro of capturing the real, the ordinary, the extraordinary, and making it sing.
    I foresee this monologue being produced, and performed, and highly sought after, a LOT. ”
  • A Godawful Small Affair by Hayley St. James
    8 Dec. 2020
    “ I really like how of the now A GODAWFUL SMALL AFFAIR is, as St. James shows us lust, love, yearning tinged with politics and just the general contemporary sense of exasperation, exhaustion, rage and weariness.
    The story they tell is bold and unflinching, and yet at the same day, every day and REAL, which makes it all the more powerful. Plus, you know, Bowie, so it's cool as hell.
    St. James ably handles affairs of the heart, pop culture, politics and just LIFE with skill and aplomb. Definitely a playwright any theatre would be lucky to be in business with. ”
  • For Leonora, or, Companions by Hayley St. James
    8 Dec. 2020
    “ St. James offers we the audience a perspective we don't see nearly enough in theatre, and I hope we get to see much more.
    This is a love story as two characters learn more about themselves, and their past, and what brings them together. I don't think any feeling audience member would be able to resist rooting for Nora, Stephanie, Nora AND Stephanie and Mrs. Hyena. It's first love, with all its anxiety and all of its acceptance, and the story St. James tells is so, so, so valuable. ”
  • Fable by Doug DeVita
    8 Dec. 2020
    “ I don't have the history with GYPSY that many audiences will presumably have. Really a passing knowledge, more than anything. But DeVita excels here, as he does with his PHILLIE series, at playing with the boundaries of time, memory, fiction, truth and family, painting emotionally layered and deeply complicated relationships that resound no matter one's connection with the source material. Laced with the showbiz setting, natch, to make it utterly irrestistible.
    This is a story of sisters and daughters, bound to one another through the truth, lies and swift kicks in the pants from beyond the grave ... ”
  • AN ABUNDANCE OF CAUTION, A Play for Videoconference by Rachael Carnes
    2 Dec. 2020
    “ David Ives, but for Zoom.
    And yet we feel each sudden twist or turn in the conversation that seems to go nowhere and everywhere deep down within our SOULS.
    Carnes transcends Zoom fatigue for a conversation that reveals nothing and everything ... and this was on Day Four! Where are these characters nearly a year later? Are they OK? Are any of us OK?
    Her play is a mirror, a time capsule (for a brief time period that's lasted longer than perhaps originally thought), a moment captured in time. Carnes makes this medium sing.
    Cheers to wombat altruism. ”
  • Mario Kart: A Sonata by Emily Hageman
    28 Nov. 2020
    “ For the record, in the future, when you hear Emily Hageman's name and you think to yourself, "Everyone's always talking about Emily Hageman and her plays," THIS PLAY IS A SHINING EXAMPLE OF ALL THE REASONS WHY.
    Hageman takes an every day, ordinary occurrence in the Life of Boys, gathering together to play Mario Kart, and shines a light on everything brimming beneath the surface.
    Teachers and parents, read and produce this play when you need a reminder.
    Boys (and girls), read these words when you need to feel seen and understood.
    Emily's gonna save the world. She already is. ”
  • Doodles and the Apocalypse by Peter Nemenoff
    20 Nov. 2020
    “ Cat owners in particular will relate to this accurate depiction of pets in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic. Realistic and adorable. ”
  • A Square and a Circle by Emma Goldman-Sherman
    9 Nov. 2020
    “ Oh, my, this is so lovely.
    I will echo Scott Sickles' sentiment that children and adults (especially the adults) need to read this play, particularly now.
    Ahem. Especially the adults.
    The concept, the imagery that Goldman-Sherman conjures is irresistible and gentle and fierce. Circle makes the point for Square, but is clear that Square needs to put in their own work into their learning and weed-clearing. But they can work together.
    Ahem. Especially the adults.
    The kids get it. The kids already know this stuff, or they would, if the adults would get out of their way.
    Especially the adults. ”
  • FUZZY, FORMER POLICE K-9 PUPPY: A KID MONOLOGUE by Asher Wyndham
    9 Nov. 2020
    “ You know that meme of Kristen Bell reacting to a sloth?
    That's audiences everywhere when they get a load of Fuzzy. Fuzzy tried but the teacher had shoelaces. Fuzzy's got a bug on their butt. And now they're in their forever home.
    Wyndham's youth monologues are always something to treasure, and FUZZY is an instant classic and automatic crowd pleaser, particularly if performed by a youth performer, although he's generous enough to let the grownups play too.
    Absolutely adorable. So cute we are all in imminent danger of exploding from "Awww!" ”
  • WHAT HAPPENED IN THE WHITE HOUSE LAST NIGHT by Rachael Carnes
    8 Nov. 2020
    “ They go low, we go high and Carnes goes short and ever so sweet and satisfying. As good as a fly on the wall POV as we can ever hope for and, let's be honest, as close as we really want to get.
    SNL couldn't have done it better. Cathartic. ”

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