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"The question is to know whether as a result of living together, one person's evil thoughts manage to be perceived by the other person, even before they are fully formed, and whether the other person intuits them as already at the conscious phase, deliberately trying to be realized. There is nothing more hurtful than to see someone read into your very depths and only a married couple is capable of it. They do not manage to conceal what is murky in the depths of their soul and they easily foresee each one's intention towards the other, which makes the clear impression of spying on one another which is what, in fact, they are doing. Fearing nothing so much as one's husband's or wife's watchfulness, they wind up disarmed in relation to one another. A judge is sitting beside them, who condemns in embryo every germinating evil desire, whereas, according to society's law, one cannot be held responsible for one's thoughts."Strindberg, The Quarantine Officer's Second Tale, 1902 "THE DANCE OF DEATH certainly exceeds the surface naturalism stressed by earlier critics. Being the fruit of Strindberg's harrowing personal suffering, the play expresses in many surrealistic ways the state of mind of persons engaged in elemental conflicts."Sister Corona Sharp "THE DANCE OF DEATH is a study of the horror of life's spiritual isolation-the loneliness that unhappy intimacy with another only accentuates."Charles Isherwood "In the case of Strindberg, the tragic strain does not exclude the comic, that the two in fact coalesce, become as it were one, in the manner of the modern as distinguished from the classical drama."Alrik Gustafson

When Dax Diamond is kicked out of the mega popular boy band, Love Cloud, he's forced to go to high school like a regular kid. He's up for the challenge though, and looking forward to escaping the pressures of being famous. Little does he know that the paparazzi has nothing on the high school social media game. When an anonymous poster keeps spilling the students' secrets, Love Cloud Super Fan, Kimberly, and Dax lead the students in solving the mystery of who is responsible.

"Chances are that you have had a friend who fell in love with someone you felt was, to put it kindly, unsuitable. Yet the more you listened to your friend talk, the more you saw this object of adoration through her eyes. And maybe you came not only to understand the attraction but even almost to share it. Such is the experience of listening to Erica, the enraptured heroine of Nick Robideau's INANIMATE, the sly and very likable comedy...the 30-year-old Erica has for the first time found true romance, and-yes, yes, oh yes-she never knew it could be like this. She'd shout it from the rooftops if she could. But she fears society is not ready to accept this relationship. Erica, you see, is in love with a wonderful-wait for it-fast-food restaurant sign. A Dairy Queen sign, to be specific. Erica fondly calls it Dee, after the first letter of its illuminated name. Or rather, his name. Erica knows that 'his energy is male'. The category of loves that dare not speak their names, at least from American theater stages, keeps shrinking. In 2002, Edward Albee's THE GOAT, OR WHO IS SYLVIA? presented a married architect's affair with a barnyard animal as a means of exploring the limits of erotic tolerance. INANIMATE takes this investigation a step further, with a fractured lyricism all its own. The brave new world-or perhaps not so new, just previously unmentionable-that Mr Robideau has ventured into is clinically known as 'objectum sexuality', or objectophilia. As Erica eventually discovers, it is a condition that now has its own websites, online forums and support groups; it has even been the subject of documentaries, such as Strange Love: Married to the Eiffel Tower. Clinical, though, is definitely not the word for INANIMATE...this play unfolds as a sort of normcore comic variation on ROMEO AND JULIET, which insists we regard its central relationship as worthy of high flights of poetic fancy. Such a perspective could so easily lean toward smirky voyeurism or cloying cuteness. And in the opening scenes, I worried that a perverse preciousness might dominate. But INANIMATE wins us over by contextualizing its exotic subject in the bedrock of the familiar. Subjectively, most of us went through what Erica is experiencing when we were teenagers, terrified by the insistent promptings of our libidos. And as the play progresses, and Erica confesses her once secretlove, Mr Robideau drolly insinuates that all tales of coming to terms with sexuality are 'coming out' stories. The provincial New England that Erica inhabits is not unlike the dead-end environs of an Annie Baker play. As in Ms Baker's THE ALIENS and THE FLICK, the outsider characters of INANIMATE are trapped in a state of protracted adolescence, equally terrified of being stuck in or ever leaving their insular Massachusetts hometown."Ben Brantley, The New York Times

On a rainy afternoon in Key West, Florida, Brigid ducks into Niall O'Neill's cluttered pub, in search of her keys. Soon, it becomes clear that what Brigid is really seeking is much deeper-and more mysterious. Stories and secrets intertwine as Niall and Brigid balance the fine line between past and present, reality and shadow. "Reminiscent of Samuel Beckett's bumbling philosophers in WAITING FOR GODOT...the torrent that is KEY WEST hits the audience with a barrage of philosophical questions: Is God in every one of us? How is the thin line between ecstasy and insanity drawn? Is there life after death? What is the value of truth, and will we be haunted by our lies? And the story O'Brien weaves is entertaining. His plot drags the audience through the entire spectrum of human emotion before releasing them back into reality... [with] a shocking twist worthy of a good M Night Shyamalan reveal."Erin Morrison-Fortunato, Rochester City Newspaper

"Oren Safdie's GRATITUDE is an unflinchingly dark (and darkly funny) exploration of sexual power-play... [He] is clearly not a playwright to gingerly approach controversial issues... The provocations in the play are very much in line with those of Neil LaBute at his most caustic... You might have some strong post-show words for Safdie. What you won't be able to say is that he doesn't know how to put together a bracingly provocative and ferociously entertaining 75 minutes of theatre."Jim Burke, Montreal Gazette "The 75-minute play begins rather innocently, but dissolves into so much sexual tension and human desperation with a great deal of simplicity and humour. The acting is riveting, and brings out issues that teens handle amongst themselves within the sanctity of a private school with a great deal of force and authenticity." Stuart Nulman, Montreal Times "GRATITUDE offers a topical look at high school lust and longing.... The scenes are well-paced, engaging, funny." Rhiannon Collett , The Globe and Mail "Montreal-born playwright Oren Safdie has hit the proverbial ball out of the court with his new play GRATITUDE. Safdie's play captures youthful stirrings with all their passions and insecurities to devastating effect. GRATITUDE is a brave, provocative story exploring the realities around sex, love, consent, duty, gender roles and rebellion." Mike Cohen, The Suburban

What happens when football and aliens mix in the American South? Set in 1974, an Alabama family is forced to confront long-submerged truths when sports legend Bear Bryant visits their hometown of Balls. As the big arrival nears, and other unexpected guests materialize, the family struggles to maintain their identity, civility, and what's left of their sanity. A comedy with bite, KILLING THE BEAR turns a spotlight on the insularity of small-town life, the frenzied clout of college football in the Bible Belt, and the distorted constructs of hero-worship. "There is something frighteningly real and revealing rippling just beneath the surface of Jonathan Yukich's new work. It is both playful and dangerous, like a fun house mirror in which we can't help but recognize ourselves even as the image before us writhes uncontrollably; ridiculous in one moment, monstrous in the next. The real genius of this play resides in Yukich's ability to create characters that so fully embody our desperate yearning for our own American dream: the one we were meant for, the one we are owed. KILLING THE BEAR is about as American as a play gets." Jeni Mahoney, Producing Artistic Director, Seven Devils Playwrights Conference "Jonathan Yukich isn't afraid to play with absurdity, to lean into the freakishness of, say, a two-headed cow, but his love for the South, for these strange characters, allows him to find something resonant and true within this landscape. The ghost of Bear Bryant wouldn't know what to do with this play, but Flannery O'Connor would heartily approve. An electric, wild, utterly wonderful play."Kevin Wilson, author of Nothing to See Here and The Family Fang

For every success, there are dozens, perhaps hundreds of failures. In The Summer Winds, Frank Pugliese's moving collection of short pieces and monologues, we hear from New Yorkers who have striven for success in their endeavors but have failed. Their stories make for resonant and engaging theater.

A moment of impulse from an old doctor towards a young girl changes forever the lives of three interconnected couples from three different classes. Their stories are told through a collection of styles and a collage of material, from found to autobiographical to fictional. Each character in the play loses all hope of any future, only to all come together at the end and find faith with and through each other."The title of Frank Pugliese's difficult but rewarding new play, 'HOPE' IS THE THING WITH FEATHERS, is taken from an Emily Dickinson poem. The play, too, by the time it is through, is an ode to hope. It is also very much a poem in dramatic form, a poem that baffles at first, and strains the mind. Perhaps, for some, the theater is never supposed to be difficult, but for those whose attention can hold under such challenging conditions, the reward is considerable. For this play is a ninety-minute jigsaw puzzle whose pieces, seemingly unrelated, gradually come together and by the end, the picture is in focus and complete… All these people, then, are in midst of making decisions about their lives, present and future. In one way or another, each is in despair. At play's end, they make their decisions, perhaps on the basis that 'love is not the opposite of hate-hope is.' By that time, having been honored with patience and attention, Mr Pugliese's play becomes most rewarding…"Martin Gottfried, New York Law Journal

A radio talk-show host is menaced by a threatening caller in this psychological thriller. "VOICES IN THE DARK reminds us just how fun and entertaining a good thriller can be. So what if you have a few nightmares, jump every time the phone rings for the next couple of weeks, and are never able to look a hot tub in the face again? It's worth it."Fergus McGillicuddy, talkinbroadway.com "It may take a psychologist to tell us why we enjoy being frightened, why we yearn to enter the most sinister crevices of our mind. Although the slice and dice thriller is more popular on film than on stage, playwright John Pielmeier hopes to change that with his fun-filled, fatuously lurid new thriller, VOICES IN THE DARK."Simon Saltzman, U S 1 "A psychological thriller, this new play by John Pielmeier keeps theatergoers on the edge of their seats throughout … Pielmeier, who also penned AGNES OF GOD, has written a wonderful thriller with many unpredictable twists and turns."Debbie Mura, The Courier-News

"Stanley Rutherford's THE CHINESE ART OF PLACEMENT...sustain[s] our tradition of nutty comedy. THE CHINESE ART OF PLACEMENT may be the best and most fully-rounded play for one actor I've ever come across, both funny and very moving. It provides a good education on several important topics, including feng shui, party-planning and espionage, and should provide an ideal vehicle for some loopy middle-aged actors."Howard Shalwitz, in his Introduction to Plays From Woolly Mammoth

"A shaky romantic connection is made between an alienated American painter and an Iranian student in this sensitive and surprising drama."Jason Zinoman, The New York Times "…Conflicts between mother and son, brother and sister, Christian versus Middle East pair off for preliminaries before piling up in a noisy climax…a fascinating blend of tense drama, inspired comedy and a sweet, innocent and chaste romance, softened further by surprisingly effective moments of still and silence …"William Westhoven, Daily Record "…seriously consider an excursion to see Russell Davis' MAHIDA'S EXTRA KEY TO HEAVEN. The premise of the play centers on two young people who meet by chance in the evening at a ferry landing, waiting for a boat that will not come until morning. One of them starts talking. Thomas's irrepressible, impossible loquacity sparks a dialogue that draws Mahida, an Iranian student, into a confidence first, and then to a dramatic confrontation with her brother in the second act. Although much of the conversation in MAHIDA'S EXTRA KEY TO HEAVEN is about cultural differences, the real subject of the play is not these disagreements. It is about talking itself-how we talk to one another or fail to talk, and what happens when talking breaks down.… At the heart of MAHIDA'S EXTRA KEY TO HEAVEN is a parable Mahida is trying to write about two very different creatures, one without a shadow and the other without a reflection, who find in each other a traveling companion. In the story, as in the play, Mahida and Thomas do not quite become partners, but their heaven is just the other side of the wall, where the water is wide and calm.…"Jim Kates, The Arts Fuse "It's easy enough to think of people from different cultures as if they're from literally different worlds altogether, but the simple-and perhaps hardest-thing to remember at times is that we are all occupying the same planet. It's a planet that may seem vast and broken, but a planet of our own all the same. To Mahida and Thomas…the leads in Russell Davis' perfectly charming MAHIDA'S EXTRA KEY TO HEAVEN, this isn't such a hard thing to remember. Yes, they start out as two perfect strangers in this imperfect world, but through conversation and shared passions they find a way to understand each other despite the bridges they have to cross to get there. Just the right blend of philosophical and comical, MAHIDA'S EXTRA KEY TO HEAVEN pairs two unlikely strangers from two different backgrounds together in an elegant and charming plot.…"Cheyenne Heinselman, Monadnock Ledger-Transcript

"Elegantly written…it evolves into a moving argument for that eternal gamble with terrible odds: taking a chance on love. The pleasure…is its unexpected depth. The intimacy of the conversation draws the audience in; before LET'S PLAY TWO is over, you may find yourself in tears over Grace's delicate emotional condition and, more significantly, Phil's capacity for acceptance and goodness."Peter Marks, The New York Times "LET'S PLAY TWO hits a home run…. Anthony Clarvoe pulls off a difficult feat and makes it look easy. At a time when romance is often cynically treated onstage as some sort of poisoned folly, he makes us care about two ordinary, likable people trying to connect…. LET'S PLAY TWO is a genuine date play. Clarvoe turns us all into fans and gets us rooting for both sides at once."Steven Winn, San Francisco Chronicle "LET'S PLAY TWO…should please anybody who enjoys a tender, rueful, well-acted romantic comedy…. The play is not really about baseball-it's about a turning point in the romance between two baseball fans. Clarvoe never glorifies, nor condescends to, his average guy and gal characters. He always observes them with clear eyes, but affectionate humor and respect…. LET'S PLAY TWO is highly engaging, and surprisingly, it lingers with a sweet poignancy long after it's over."Matthew Surrence, Oakland Tribune "Clarvoe writes exceptionally clever dialogue. He knows how to map out the psychological journeys of Grace and Phil so that we remain eager to travel along for two acts and two hours. And he's created two characters at once familiar and endearingly oddly matched. The further you travel with Grace and Phil, the more you end up liking-and rooting for-both of them."Robert Hurwitt, San Francisco Examiner "Clarvoe is more interested in the human comedy than the comedy of errors. Baseball anecdotes and metaphors abound, but they're never belabored. The lovers are an appealing pair, fighting against love as hard as they fight for it, and their simultaneous win and loss is sweet to see."Judith Green, San Jose Mercury News

"Beautifully written… There is light of understanding cast on the human condition in this play. That light concerns the simple heroism of people who do not abandon their fellows in the dark hours."Marilynne S. Mason, Christian Science Monitor "Set in London as the Black Plague sweeps the city claiming more than 100,000 lives, THE LIVING is not about death. Rather this remarkable, riveting drama is a compelling confirmation of life." Sandra Dillard-Rosen, The Denver Post "Fascinating… THE LIVING is a play both clever and thoughtful…. With a fine wit and a keen irony."Richard Christiansen, Chicago Tribune "Haunting revives the plague time with often chilling vividness… The drama would be interesting even if there were no modern parallel. The play remains intellectually engrossing and, ultimately, gut-wrenchingly affecting."Aileen Jacobson, Newsday "This intelligent and cumulatively affecting drama…discovers the hope and humanity shining inside the black shroud."Steven Winn, San Francisco Chronicle "Aided by Clarvoe's enticing dialogue and grim humor…we see that beneath all the turmoil and death, there exists a simple humanity that saves souls and restores faith."Mary Houlihan-Skilton, Chicago Sun-Times "A rich, dynamic play…laced with oddly beautiful metaphors for tragedy…. Do heed this reminder to keep breathing during the full force of the action.Patricia Corrigan, St Louis Post-Dispatch "As much a drama of ideas as it is a drama of passion and compassion, it unfolds in a series of Shakespeare-like scenes that follow a handful of characters through the darkest months of the plague.… Clarvoe writes with wit and intelligence."Marion Garmel, Indianapolis Star "As a tale of human heroism and cowardice, pitilessness and compassion, medical sleuthing and political expediency, it cannot be beat…. Clarvoe's most potent idea has been to prohibit the characters from touching one another. Not even a piece of paper is handed directly from one person to another; everything is arranged to prevent human contact. So the ending is really miraculous." Judith Green, San Jose Mercury News