Recommended by Matthew Weaver

  • Matthew Weaver: Second-Hand Spiral Ham by DC Cathro
    “

    Only Cathro can take such a potentially shenanigan-bound Secret Santa play title and deliver such a deeply human, deeply empathic experience that will leave its audience spellbound and deeply moved. As Lisa Dellagiarino Feriend says, "The DIALOGUE."
    This is the play you secure for your holiday play festival when you want to close things out by bringing down the house with a quiet tour de force.

    Only Cathro can take such a potentially shenanigan-bound Secret Santa play title and deliver such a deeply human, deeply empathic experience that will leave its audience spellbound and deeply moved. As Lisa Dellagiarino Feriend says, "The DIALOGUE."
    This is the play you secure for your holiday play festival when you want to close things out by bringing down the house with a quiet tour de force.

    ”
  • Matthew Weaver: Fahrenheit Ho Ho Ho by Sam Heyman
    “

    Heyman takes a (very sexy, very brave) Secret Santa title from SOME holiday rapscallion and spins pure reanimated magic with it. Ray Bradbury himself would approve! Something jolly this way comes, with a definitely-dark-yet-educational twist to it. More book reports should be presented/crafted this way!

    Heyman takes a (very sexy, very brave) Secret Santa title from SOME holiday rapscallion and spins pure reanimated magic with it. Ray Bradbury himself would approve! Something jolly this way comes, with a definitely-dark-yet-educational twist to it. More book reports should be presented/crafted this way!

    ”
  • Matthew Weaver: There's Nothing to See Here So Just Move Along Already! by Scott Sickles
    “

    DICK WOLF, CALL SCOTT SICKLES' AGENT ASAP!
    In any other writer's hands, this would be merely a homicide investigation. Or a dramatic, tension-filled meeting between two exes who aren't quite happy about how things ended or where they now stand.
    With Scott Sickles, though, you get both. And it's hilarious and heartfelt, gruesome and tinged with holiday melancholy. Would love to see Bill and Pats' love story play out across a dozen tragic death scenes.

    DICK WOLF, CALL SCOTT SICKLES' AGENT ASAP!
    In any other writer's hands, this would be merely a homicide investigation. Or a dramatic, tension-filled meeting between two exes who aren't quite happy about how things ended or where they now stand.
    With Scott Sickles, though, you get both. And it's hilarious and heartfelt, gruesome and tinged with holiday melancholy. Would love to see Bill and Pats' love story play out across a dozen tragic death scenes.

    ”
  • Matthew Weaver: Recent Impending Events by Nora Louise Syran
    “

    A very brave and thoughtful discussion about science and faith shared by two people who don't necessarily agree what those words mean. But where there could be friction and bristling, instead there's communication and patience.
    I'm not sure Syran's characters will change each other's minds. I'm not even sure this play will change any audience members' minds. I AM sure this is the play in your festival that everyone will be talking about.

    A very brave and thoughtful discussion about science and faith shared by two people who don't necessarily agree what those words mean. But where there could be friction and bristling, instead there's communication and patience.
    I'm not sure Syran's characters will change each other's minds. I'm not even sure this play will change any audience members' minds. I AM sure this is the play in your festival that everyone will be talking about.

    ”
  • Matthew Weaver: In My World, an Entire Entenmann’s Cheese Danish is One Serving (Alternate) by Christopher Soucy
    “

    I for one welcome our new alien overlords, Bob.
    Do yourself a favor and read both of Soucy's plays with this Secret Santa of a title. In the other one, he delivers a heartfelt message of friendship.
    In this one, however, he gives himself permission to go full-on bonkers, and BOY does it ever work. I particularly enjoy how the marvelous and the mundane go hand-in-hand in this out and out romp. I firmly believe this is how it will go/already went when we first made/make?? contact.
    ALL HAIL BOB!

    I for one welcome our new alien overlords, Bob.
    Do yourself a favor and read both of Soucy's plays with this Secret Santa of a title. In the other one, he delivers a heartfelt message of friendship.
    In this one, however, he gives himself permission to go full-on bonkers, and BOY does it ever work. I particularly enjoy how the marvelous and the mundane go hand-in-hand in this out and out romp. I firmly believe this is how it will go/already went when we first made/make?? contact.
    ALL HAIL BOB!

    ”
  • Matthew Weaver: In My World, an Entire Entenmann’s Cheese Danish is One Serving by Christopher Soucy
    “

    All we really ask is to not be alone in our crises. We don't need answers, we don't need solutions -- we just want someone to sit with us and LISTEN. Soucy understands this, and delivers with a depiction of exactly that that's as delicious as presumably it is rich.
    Put this in your play festival, give it to your most undersung performers who have plenty of heart, and watch Soucy's words shine on the stage.

    All we really ask is to not be alone in our crises. We don't need answers, we don't need solutions -- we just want someone to sit with us and LISTEN. Soucy understands this, and delivers with a depiction of exactly that that's as delicious as presumably it is rich.
    Put this in your play festival, give it to your most undersung performers who have plenty of heart, and watch Soucy's words shine on the stage.

    ”
  • Matthew Weaver: GONE AWAY IS THE BLUEBIRD (10-MINUTE PLAY) by Adam Richter
    “

    "Anything but Christmas music." Credit Richter with presenting a perspective that had never occurred to me - it would get awfully repetitive at the North Pole with nothing but holly jolly jingles playing non-stop. Better yet, catch an elf (or two) in the act of finding a little bit of merry respite amongst the tunes, and you've got a rich scenario indeed for any holiday play festival daring to delve into the secret lives of elves.

    "Anything but Christmas music." Credit Richter with presenting a perspective that had never occurred to me - it would get awfully repetitive at the North Pole with nothing but holly jolly jingles playing non-stop. Better yet, catch an elf (or two) in the act of finding a little bit of merry respite amongst the tunes, and you've got a rich scenario indeed for any holiday play festival daring to delve into the secret lives of elves.

    ”
  • Matthew Weaver: This Is Not Your Tragedy by Miranda Jonté
    “

    Jonté ultimately invites us to sit with our heartbreak and really examine it. It's a play that starts off light - as a goody-two shoes worrywart, I particularly appreciated the first instance in the game show - and gently ushers us along into something deeper and very thoughtful all along the way [no surprise coming from Jonté]. There are no easy answers, but there is always hope and optimism. We sit with our heartbreak - and we move forward.

    Jonté ultimately invites us to sit with our heartbreak and really examine it. It's a play that starts off light - as a goody-two shoes worrywart, I particularly appreciated the first instance in the game show - and gently ushers us along into something deeper and very thoughtful all along the way [no surprise coming from Jonté]. There are no easy answers, but there is always hope and optimism. We sit with our heartbreak - and we move forward.

    ”
  • Matthew Weaver: Ice in Their Veins by Aly Kantor
    “

    Kantor takes a Secret Santa title, begins with chaos, delightfully, and then descends into further chaos, even more delightfully, spinning pure magic all the while. This would be a dynamic play for five strong young performers who are just itching to play on the dark side, which ultimately in the end might just wind up being the light side ... for the most part. Savage and true. A tour de force, a triumph "for the girlies."

    Kantor takes a Secret Santa title, begins with chaos, delightfully, and then descends into further chaos, even more delightfully, spinning pure magic all the while. This would be a dynamic play for five strong young performers who are just itching to play on the dark side, which ultimately in the end might just wind up being the light side ... for the most part. Savage and true. A tour de force, a triumph "for the girlies."

    ”
  • Matthew Weaver: Cookie Cutter Christmas by Lindsay Partain
    “

    Haunting words from a master. I appreciate how Partain doesn't go for the simple, easy answers here, but instead leans into the melancholy and the grief, and shows the underbelly of losing oneself in those emotions as well - as well as the importance of expressing them to those people who love us most. This play is a hug, occasionally a cozy one, but it's also a hug in solidarity and a hug offered to bring comfort in times when joy seems unachievable.

    Haunting words from a master. I appreciate how Partain doesn't go for the simple, easy answers here, but instead leans into the melancholy and the grief, and shows the underbelly of losing oneself in those emotions as well - as well as the importance of expressing them to those people who love us most. This play is a hug, occasionally a cozy one, but it's also a hug in solidarity and a hug offered to bring comfort in times when joy seems unachievable.

    ”