"Anyone who has ever smoked a joint or kissed a girl will love this play"
583737
It only takes about an hour to read This is Our Youth even though on stage it is about 2.5 hours.

This is my all-time favorite play. Kenneth knows how to write characters that are relatable. Everyone has met these characters before and it is delightful meeting them again.
2719651
"Rabinal Achi" is a short play about a Maya Indian rebel warrior (Cawek of the Forest People) who is leading a guerrilla war against a people called the Rabinal.  At the time of this play the people of Rabinal have put their own warriors into the field, and one of them, called The Man of Rabinal in the play, has captured Cawek and is bringing him back to Rabinal for justice to take place.  The play is a series of discussions between The Man of Rabinal, Cawek of the Forest People, and Lord Five Thunder, who is the head man of Rabinal.  In the play the characters list their grievances with each other, and it is up to Lord Five Thunder to determine what happens to Cawek.  In the end Lord Five Thunder decides to sacrifice Cawek by decapitating him.  Cawek then has a series of final requests, which are granted one by one until Cawek has nothing else to say.  Then he is sacrificed, and the play ends.

Technically speaking, this play is dynamite.  Dr. Tedlock is an expert on the culture and languages of highland Maya people of Guatemala, and his expertise comes forth in this translation of the play, which is full of specialized language items and matching couplets.  There are extensive notes and explanations of the play, looking at it from a dozen different angles, and these serve to make the play accessible to non-Maya readers.  I absolutely LOVED this play.  I love word-play, and the language play in this work is a delight to behold.  I felt like I was listening straight to the voice of the ancient Maya themselves throughout this work, and Dr. Tedlock's notes pointed out aspects of the play that I would not have noticed on my own or did not know enough about to make the connections he makes.  This work is a perfect example of where a trained expert can take you, that you can't get to on your own.  The matching couplets remind me of his translation of the Popul Vuh, or Council Book, which I must also recommend to you if you haven't read it yet.  Also on the list, his book "2000 Years of Mayan Literature," which is another winner.  For those like me who love language play, his books "The Spoken Word and the Work of Interpretation" and "Breath on the Mirror" are exciting works by this highly acclaimed specialist in Maya languages.  I am a BIG fan of Dr. Tedlock's, and "Rabinal Achi" only gave me more reasons to pay homage to this remarkable professor.  If you're into the Maya Indians and want to know more about them, this play will take you there in just a few short days of reading.  I'd say this is specialized knowledge for those with a strong desire to know more.  It's not a general work on the Maya, and it's probably not a place for beginners to cut their teeth unless you really find plays or language-play accessible.  I cannot rave enough about this work, just get a copy AND READ IT!
3574101
This is easilly my favorite play ever.  Last year, I directed it for a Student Directed Production at my high school and had a lot of success and strong audience response.  I had people walk up to me hoping for more performances because they had laughed SO HARD.  Some of my closest friends actually said they had fallen off their seats laughing.  Involving a small cast of 7, this production creates what reviewers say is "one of the funniest plays ever written".  The plot begins with architect Willum Cubbert getting a surprise birthday party from his girlfriend Tansy and his room mate and play-critic, Axel.  From the beginning, the characters are establishes, but the plot takes a little while to catch onto.  Tansy talks about leaving Willum for a job opportunity in Washington because she feels like she's spinning her tires with Willum.  Finally, Willum's boss, Waldgrave, his wife, Clelia, and son, Thor, arrive.  From this family's entrance, they're a comedy routine on their own!  Waldgrave is edgy and very high strung, while Clelia presents herself as a very calm and collected special ed. teacher...while their son, Thor, is a hellian! :)  After a while, a man who once saved Willum's life in Vietnam, shows up on the answering machine.  And this man, named Rick Steadman, shows up, and is a bumbling oaf and a complete NERD!  All in all, Rick drives EVERYONE nuts!  Clelia smashes dishes to relieve stress, Waldgrave screams and pitches a fit, and Thor locks himself in the bedroom.  After a LOT of comedic setups, the Waldgrave family exits with muddy clothes, soaked shoes, and a psychologically messed up delinquent.  Willum, Tansy, and Axel result in constantly being driven up the wall by Rick.  So, Rick decides to stay...permanantly.  Willum doesn't feel as if he could just tell Rick to leave, so he stays and DRIVES HIM UP THE WALL!  After dedicated attempts at ridding themselves of Rick, they decide the only way it's possible, is by performing bizarre Pagan rituals.  After dancing around the room, Willum, Tansy, and Axel all realize that Rick is ENJOYING himself!  Finally, Rick joins the chant and shouts for them to throw cottage cheese out the window.  They do.  And Waldgrave reenters the apartment with a pile of cottage cheese covering him.  In the end, Willum is fired completely because of Rick.  And that is when Willum decides to tell the schmuck to leave.  And in a very awkward way, the nerd makes his exit.  And Willum, now jobless, decides to take a job offer in Washington, so he can remain with Tansy.  A love setup was caused by a secret plan by Axel and the actor who had played Rick Steadman the entire time.  Willum may go to Washington realizing that he's now jobless, but as "Rick" says "by that time, I'm sure he'll be so happy he'll forget to be mad" and the curtain closes.  There is no perfect way to review this, due to all the humour within the dialogue.  I simply will say, BUY THIS!  YOU WILL READ IT, and if you're a theater lover, you'll read it again and again!  It's the best!  All around, it isn't incredibly deep in meaning, but involves a very simple and cute love story.
2225149
It's such a wonderful experience when you read a book, listen to a CD, view a film or attend a play, and you just know that you are privy to something that can, and usually will, change your life. "Yellowman" is a work on that level; a work of staggering truth and honesty.

Dael Orlandersmith-both as a writer and an actress-is among the best of her generation. This play was produced all too briefly at MTC in New York, but for those who didn't get to see it, please read the text. You will not be dissapointed.

This is probably the best play in the last 5 years.
3588583
This is a wonderful play! Sure, it was written in 1960 but the silly things we humans do, as viewed through the eyes of the ants that live "Under the Sycamore Tree," have hardly changed at all. It's funny, it's clean and it brings our delightful human foibles to light.
Highly recommended.
3439691
The play is existentialist in nature, but not unapproachable.  It is funny and sad, lighthearted and dreary.  It layers daily, late 20th century, silly modernisms and affectations with subtle philosophical ponderings.  Rachel is delightful and strange.  The audience feels for her as she  endlessly quests from one Springfield to another, realizing that Santa and  Satan are inherently related and that you can never really know anyone . .  . not your husband, your son, your assasin, not even yourself.  A  must-read.  A must-perform.  You'd be "reckless" not to.  A  comedy, with some serious edges.
3936827
The plays in this book are generally hillarious. If you can appreciate theatre and also appreciate absurdist comedy, you will love them.

I had never laughed out loud while reading a script before; I had to stop reading for a few minutes to calm down at several moments during this book
3655866
A great teen comedy for whatever needed. We loved Rachel Leigh Cook.  The acctual story begins with a lovely artist name Laney (Cook) starting up school after Spring Break wit ha piece of art work. Then the camera flashes  to Zach (Prinze) who gets dumped by his bossy girlfriend Taylor. After  telling his friend he doesn't need her, they make a bet. Six weeks to turn  any girl of his friend's choice to prom queen. The subject: Laney Bogs.  After trying to get her up to being friends, Zach realizes there's  something more. Great for any occasion, you'll laugh and be  "awed" as the story explains how really Laney turns to be the  true one and only because "She's All That"
2133219
I'm going to start this by saying I have always had a love hate relationship with theatre so for me reading this was either going to be a huge hit or an epic failure and I can honestly say that I loved it! It had me laughing all the way through and the dialogue between Sam & Al had me in absolute pieces! I loved the wide range of characters and all of their quirks, it made them seem more human! I'm actually a little ashamed to admit that I would have loved to be on that cruise!! I never though in a million years that I would actually enjoy reading this so I was pleasantly surprised by just how much I did in fact enjoy it. If this was made into a play I would go and see it and drag all my family and friends along as well, it is just that funny! It has everything I want in a play and more! Zack has a knack of throwing everything needed into whatever he is writing and then that extra something that you never knew it needed!
191750
The play was a hilariously good time. So many individual pieces of the play are great as monologues or short scene performances as well as it being a wonderful piece of literature. Highly recommended!
1606487
I saw this play in college and it has stuck with me ever since. To hear and then read these stories, I cannot tell you the emotion you find yourself feeling.  This is amazing and every woman should read this!
4010064
This was one of the most entertaining plays I have ever had the good fortunate of seeing.

At the university Abigail and I both attend, I am an executive member of a theatre group. Each semester, I help put on 1-2 "major" productions (a full set, costumes, lights, etc.) along with 5-6 "reading series" (usually smaller, more intimate, less production). The majority of our staged readings are intimate, modern, published stage plays that the director chooses. Abigail was amongst the few directors to propose a play they had written themselves, and she was picked to direct "The Second Law."

Despite my active involvement in theatre at school, I am constantly disappointed by each reading series we put on. With minimal set and rehearsal time, a reading series relies very heavily on its script, and I tend to lose interest in the glum characters, the over-dramatic plot lines, and the fact that nobody seems to know how people actually talk.

Abigail's play, however, blew me away! She perfectly balances the dramatic with the comedic. Her style reminds me of Neil Simon, Martin McDonagh, or Woody Allen who can, like a light switch, easily move us from laughter to tears and back to laughter again. The characters feel real and the plot line is quite innovative. I have thought about this play at least once a week since I saw it several months ago. Isn't that what it's all about?

I am very excited to see such a young writer with the instinct that so many "acclaimed" writers are missing (Does anybody else roll their eyes every time a writer has to establish that a family member died? "It wouldn't be like this if mom were still alive." YUCK). This play is thought-provoking, charming, and, above all, FRESH. I would recommend it to anyone.
811038
"It's never too late to be what you might have been."

If you haven't read a play since your high school English class conquered Shakespeare, you're in for a treat. The Mixtape isn't like anything you ever read in literature class. It's interesting, vibrant, and colorful. The characters are flawed and exciting and real and ALIVE. It's been way too long since I sat down and just enjoyed a play.

From the perspective of a writer, I think readers who are interested in acting/drama/theater will enjoy this play just because it's different. Polly was someone I could relate to. She's flawed, but likable. The story moves quickly and because it's written in the format of a play, you aren't bogged down with page after page of descriptions of the scenery. You still get descriptions, mind you, but this play really gets to the meat of the story.
4835527
Would recommend this play to anywhere from a high school drama club to a community theatre! It's an awesome time filled with many laughs.
2381952
The Marat/Sade is a wonderfully innovative play, whose form perfectly suits its subject matter.  The characters are vivid and memorable. Despite the fact that the ending is known almost as soon as the play begins, suspense is still present, and the work holds the reader's interest from beginning to end. The play, set in a psychiatric hospital, is performed by the patients being treated at the hospital. But the play within a play actually has a history motif. I would certainly recommend it for those interested in history plays as well as for those with a general interest in plays, whatever the subject matter.
  Charlotte E. May-Sere
  www.thestakesthreeplaysoftheblackexperience.com
2837238
I saw this one-girl show and it was fabulous, and I had hoped that the cd would recreate as much of that wonderful theatrical experience as possible. IT DOES. I knew that the cd would be fun, but it is so much more. First, Sami Staitman is a fresh new talent and clearly a future STAR. At 15 years old, she already knows how to deliver a song like a pro, and here are 14 of them, a beautiful mix of lovely ballads and wonderfully fun specialty songs, written by Bruce Kimmel (some of his best work). Through these songs, we learn the frank thoughts of a typical 14 year old girl (well, typical only for a really good girl who has grown up on musicals). The music is so enjoyable and the lyrics are just so witty, exploring areas and topics that most would never attempt and doing it brilliantly! I was going to list some of my favorite songs on this cd, but then I realized that I'd really just be listing them all. Often times I buy a cd, listen to it once or twice, and that's it, BUT, this is a cd that you will want to listen to over and over. It is just so much fun and guaranteed to keep a smile on your face!
1087721
I'd like to start off by saying that I haven't actually read this play; I've seen it.  And it was absolutely amazing.
I'd never heard of it, but I preorder tickets for all of the shows at a local theatre, and this was  the most recent.
Basically it is three different monologues, with the  only things tying them together the tragedy of the tales, and the fact that  they take place in a funeral home (hence the name "Three  Viewings").
They are so perfectly written, so tragic and yet  humorous that you don't know whether to laugh or cry yet somehow end up  doing both.  This is the most outstanding, touching, wonderful play that  I've seen, and I've seen quite a few.
Buy the book, and you'll be doing  yourself a favor.  But if the play is every showing near you, get tickets  immediately.  It is an absolutely outstanding, unforgettable drama.