PLAY A DAY

I’m Going to Read a Play a Day in July!

There are so many great NEW plays out there, and I’ve gotten a whole bunch of them. This, of course, will do me no good unless I actually READ them and know what’s in them, which ones I like, which ones might be good for students, to pass on to folx who may want to do them, etc.

So, I’m going to read a play a day in July! School is out and I’m relaxing (a little) this summer, and preparing for a busy Fall semester. It’s always good to have more plays under my belt from which I can pull scenes, refer students for monologues, and more!

I’m not going to read the old classics. In the attempt to decolonize my classes, I’ve gotten a lot of new plays, mostly by female playwrights, playwrights of color, and LGBTQ+ playwrights. The world has changed a lot in the past few years, and I feel like new plays are super important to get out in the world.

As an acting student, I was assigned lots of scenes from plays I didn’t know. I had to read those plays, and loved many of them. That broadened my knowledge of theatre in a fabulous way. As I got older, and started to want to direct/produce plays, a lot of the playwrights I worked on in class came to mind. So, I believe that having acting students work on your scenes/monologues/plays is great for new playwrights, and hope to bring some new 21st century playwrights to the attention of students who’ll go out in the world and act/direct/produce! Word of mouth is everything, right?

The other day, I downloaded a TON of great plays that I was excited about, but realized I couldn’t really use them until I’d read them. So, here I go. At least one a day. And I’ll try to post about them - we’ll see how it goes. Summer is less busy than during the semester.

For the record, since this is a play a day, I am trying NOT to be comprehensive here and overthink and overanalyze everything I write. So, this is not a “review” AT ALL. A real review would require more thought and skill than I have the time to put in. It’s just my thoughts on a quick read of the play. And, as we know, plays should be SEEN and not just READ. Additionally, I am looking at these from the perspective of a theatre instructor and practitioner, but with an ulterior motive to find plays that will excite my college students. Please bear all of this in mind if you read my thoughts.

Happy Summering all, and maybe you too will want to read a play a day with me in July!

Laura

7/1/23 - Bloom Bloom Pow by Genevieve Simon

7/2/23 - The Virtuous Fall of Our Lady of Sorrows by Gina Femia

7/3/23 - MERCUTIO LOVES ROMEO LOVES JULIET LOVES by Gina Femia

7/4/23 - Samsara by Lauren Yee

7/5/23 - Scratching the Surface by Charly Evon Simpson

7/6/23 - An American Animal by Katherine Gwynn

7/7/23 - While We Wait by Charly Evon Simpson

7/8/23 - BFF by Anna Ziegler

7/9/23 - Quake by Melanie Marnich

7/10/23 - Barbecue by Robert O’Hara

7/11/23 - A Bold Stroke for a Husband by Hannah Cowley

7/12/23 - Murmurs of the Heart by Noah Way

7/13/23 - A Bold Stroke for a Wife by Susanna Centlivre

7/14/23 - WROL (Without Rule of Law) by Michaela Jeffery

7/15/23 - Bootycandy by Robert O’Hara

7/16/23 - Floating Girls Go to the Moon by Maria I. Arreola

7/17/23 - Tiger Beat by Kaela Mae-Shing Garvin

7/18/23 - The Sweet Science of Bruising by Joy Wilkinson

7/19/23 - fml: how Carson McCullers saved my life by Sarah Gubbins

7/20/23 - Sayonara Tokyo by R.W. Schneider

7/21/23 - Are There Penguins in Space? by Rachel Saruski

7/22/23 - The Wolf at the End of the Block by Ike Holter

7/23/23 - Somewhere by Marisela Treviño Orta

7/24/23 - Skin Song by Katherine Gwynn

7/25/23 - The Absentee by Julia Dolittle

7/26/23 - Teach by Donna Hoke

7/27/23 - Tinker Rising: A Supervillain Love Story by Hollis Beck

7/28/23 - Super, or, How Clark Graves Learned to Fly by Gina Femia

7/29/23 - Land O’Fire by Luis Santero

7/30/23 - The Inseparables by TJ Young

7/31/23 - Stick Fly by Lydia R. Diamond

2024 - Well, I just realized it is July again. I read a lot of great plays last July, and spent a lot of time writing about them. I actually read a lot faster than I write. So, this year, I’m going to read a play a day again, but WRITE LESS. Sorry if that’s disappointing. Although - I’m not even sure who is reading my comments, if anyone. OK, that’s not true, I know some people read some of my play comments. Which is SUPER COOL. I just need to slow down a little this year. Let’s see if Laura is really capable of that …

7/1/24 - Jaja's African Hair Braiding by Jocelyn Bioh

7/2/24 - Fairview by Jackie Sibblies Drury

7/3/24 - Clybourne Park by Bruce Norris

7/4/24 - Everybody by Brandon Jacobs-Jenkins

7/5/24 - 10 out of 12 by Anne Washburn

7/6/24 - The Sparrow by Chris Mathews, Jake Minton and Nathan Allen

7/7/24 - Life Sucks by Aaron Posner

7/8/24 - Anon(ymous) by Naomi Iizuka

7/9/24 - John Proctor is the Villain by Kimberly Belflower

7/10/24 - Fefu and Her Friends by María Irene Fornés

7/11/24 - A Feminine Ending by Sarah Treem

7/12/24 - Trouble In Mind by Alice Childress