Recommended by Morgan Kinnally

Payne’s play is beautiful, moving, and haunting. Madge Oberholtzer is someone who should be remembered who stood up to violence, prejudice, patriarchy, and corruption in America. Payne’s work is thoroughly researched, true to history, and as a drama, it takes your breath away with twists and turns in the story. It is eloquently crafted and plays with time and setting as we are transported to pivotal moments of the main character’s life and trial of the villain. We witness an era that we considered our past but this story powerfully resonates with today.

So funny - I loved every minute. I had the pleasure of seeing a reading at the Midwest Dramatist Conference this past fall. And all the while you are laughing, you question women's lack of opportunities, societies skewed values, and how many women consider compromising their values on the path to success.

I loved this piece at the Midwest Dramatists Conference 2018. A play about memory and our relationships, the elephant characters are at once charming but then their deeper and tragic relationship unfolds to makes them relatable and human.

Beautiful, poetic piece. This play was read at the Midwest Dramatists Conference 2018 and the conversations about it continued long after it had ended. Carnes brings to life the history of Sally Hemings, her mother, and grandmother as past events are ushered upon the next generation. Deeply moving, we learn a disturbing truth about the history of slavery.

Beautiful work. I love this alternate reality. A stunning piece at the 2018 Midwest Dramatist Conference. It's relevant and confronts issues of oppression, politics, and atonement.