Recommended by Claudia Haas

  • PERMISSION
    17 Nov. 2018
    This is a conversation happening everywhere. And while it may seem that these conversations are new to this generation, Carnes gently inserts a narrative suggesting these conversations should have started many generations ago. The play moves urgently to a new place bring bringing new understanding to mother and daughter. And to audiences.
  • Eleanor Roosevelt and Her Big Axe
    2 Nov. 2018
    "This is awful." "This is art." And so we have Eleanor Roosevelt, Superhero/Vigilante who wields a big axe - wait! Make that two of them. As movies continue to "improve" history because history is boring, this play is a delightful reminder that truth and accuracy can indeed garner an audience. (Ask Ken Burns about that.) Visual, silly with an undercurrent of truth, the play offers up three delicious roles for actors.
  • Interview with a Dinosaur
    2 Nov. 2018
    I never saw anything coming. I was on my toes - laughing and waiting for what Plummer has dreamed up next. And she has dreamed up plenty. This seemingly "little dinner play" offers up a feast. Every role is a gem. Every twist will keep audiences riveted.
  • McIntosh
    16 Oct. 2018
    I want to play Tree #1 so badly after reading this play. But maybe not a MacIntosh. Maybe a Honeycrisp. So maybe Tree #2. "There are no small parts" etc. has risen to a new level as Hayet deftly balances the delicate ego of teens with their surprises and slyness. This should be acted out before every first reading of a school play.
  • Runed (a spoof of M.R. James' "Casting the Runes")
    16 Oct. 2018
    What I wouldn't give to see this staged. Screwball comedy has met its match. For fun, I went back and reread at it a breakneck speed trying to imagine all the hijinks, noises and "passing of the curse" happening faster than the speed of light. Need a break from reality? Runed is your ticket to laughter.
  • Potango
    16 Oct. 2018
    Potango meets Troutrock. Potango ignores Troutrock, Potango shares a milkshake with Troutrock. What an absolutely perfect play for middle school students to watch and perform. It has enough irreverent humor to draw them in but its base is solid. There's no preaching. No messaging. Just a forlorn potango (child of a potato and a flamingo) and a cast of characters that you just may know. And if you don't know them yet, you'll want to. For the record, I am not surprised that grapes have a mean streak.
  • The Long Christmas Journey to Wellesley and Weston
    16 Oct. 2018
    What a beautiful play about family and moving through the stages of your life. Through the lens of a multi-generational Italian family, we are part of their sorrows and joys. We witness children grow up and start the cycle again. There's a lot of sly humor and it is gratifying to see the families build on each other. The play both tickled me and kept me invested in all the characters. It's a grand vehicle for actors, directors and designers. I will keep looking for it at theatres near me.
  • Trinkets for Jenkie
    24 Jul. 2018
    What a beautiful, touching play without any of the stereotypical traits reserved for our elders. I have been fascinated by the fact that crows bring gifts to people and Lawing has found a unique and poignant story to illustrate this. As the three characters work on what is later? What is heaven? How does one age - all the right notes are struck. A play about hope, moving on, family and giving.
  • How to Stop the World
    13 Jun. 2018
    The play's a delightful unexpected romance - because you never know what or who will be romantic. You never know what intentions can turn sweet. You never know what goes on between two people. The play manages to accomplish two things: sparkling, champagne dialogue mixed with the undercurrent of a real need for love and connection. It's funny, it's poignant, it's a valentine to young love.
  • A Bedtime Story
    13 Jun. 2018
    This is a frightening tale of looking for refuge, looking for safety, looking for help. The menace is everywhere but the black and white aura of the fairy tale blends into each other and we are left in the shadow. The play is timely (too timely) but there is hope in the bottom of Pandora's box and as the play ends, you cling to that sliver of hope. Imaginative, poignant and gut-wrenching, this would be very effective on stage.

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