dkrane's review against another edition
5.0
Three utterly brilliant plays in here, and a fourth ambitious experiment, all of which attest to Anne’s amazing creativity and attention to detail. I Have Loved Strangers is a really risky mashup of prophecy, the weather underground, Jeremiah, and New York City, and it works. Very unsettling meditation on terrorism (and kinda in a weird extended way writing in general with something to say in a world that doesn’t listen?)
The Small is a bizarre detour into a natural foods store increasingly turning into a twilight zone-esque center of weirdness. It has one of the best (possibly imaginary?) fights between exes I’ve ever read, a weird alien creature living in a watermelon, a magical dog...it’s weird, fun, wonderful.
Mr. Burns is flat out brilliant, a love letter to storytelling, theater, comedy, sampling, pop culture...and bold as heck.
10 out of 12 is closely observed theater about theater that also opens up in an unexpected way towards the end.
Read these plays! No two are alike, they’re all fiercely smart and a sign of a playwright boldly pushing theater forward.
The Small is a bizarre detour into a natural foods store increasingly turning into a twilight zone-esque center of weirdness. It has one of the best (possibly imaginary?) fights between exes I’ve ever read, a weird alien creature living in a watermelon, a magical dog...it’s weird, fun, wonderful.
Mr. Burns is flat out brilliant, a love letter to storytelling, theater, comedy, sampling, pop culture...and bold as heck.
10 out of 12 is closely observed theater about theater that also opens up in an unexpected way towards the end.
Read these plays! No two are alike, they’re all fiercely smart and a sign of a playwright boldly pushing theater forward.
yourmainjoe's review
challenging
emotional
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
yopo's review against another edition
4.0
A lot of fun to read because the plays are so chaotic and weird, but most are fairly unsatisfying in how they wrap up.
Bought so I could read MR BURNS, which was wonderful. THE SMALL and 10 OUT OF 12 were fun but felt a little half-baked and more interesting in their concept / weirdness than in any actual plot.
Bought so I could read MR BURNS, which was wonderful. THE SMALL and 10 OUT OF 12 were fun but felt a little half-baked and more interesting in their concept / weirdness than in any actual plot.
sdiaz's review
4.0
Have not had the opportunity to see any of the plays live, but I will keep my eyes open as I really enjoyed what I read. A classic case of writing what you know, the tales often are of performances going on in a slightly twisted but still recognizable world. The highlight is Mr. Burns which I thought was brilliant, the need to share experiences within a society and the positive/negative impact that can have on everyone is a perfect mirror to our "Meme Culture". I believe the story can be enjoyed without a strong Simpsons base, but being a fan myself I felt it added another level of enjoyment. The 10 out of 12 is similar to [b:Noises Off|160194|Noises Off|Michael Frayn|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1320486520s/160194.jpg|746005] and starts slowly but ended well. I Have Loved Strangers was good though not as memorable and The Small was my least favorite, to the point that I can't remember anything about it.
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