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WHEN SOMETHING WONDERFUL ENDS explores the loss of one's mother, America's dependence on foreign oil, and Barbie dolls in an ingenious, whimsical, touching, funny, infuriating manner that only playwright Sherry Kramer could achieve. While packing up her parents' home following the death of her mother, Sherry uncovers the treasure trove of Barbies from her baby-boom childhood while embarking on the homework of a lifetime: discovering the roots of Islamic hatred of America and our dependence on the oil in the Middle East. As a Jewish girl growing up in the epicenter of the Bible belt, Sherry knows a thing or two about religious fervor and the passions it engenders."While she putters around putting Barbie paraphernalia into boxes, our hostess neatly ties together the personal and the political, yoking her own history to the mess of current global politics and a loss of faith in the American ideal. Quirky and informative." -Christopher Isherwood, The New York Times"As the actress telling Kramer's story packs up the Barbie artifacts of a Baby Boomer youth, the playwright explores both childhood fantasy and grown-up loss, as well as offering a step-by-step theory of why so many in the Arab world have come to hate the United States … it is, bottom line, a moving and provocative piece." -Christine Dolan, Miami Herald"Recounting her quest for the moment our way of life began unraveling, playwright Sherry Kramer's remarkable monologue moves between 1963 and now, between Tehran and Springfield, MO, between radicalized mullahs and vintage Barbies, to unearth truths about America's pursuit of Middle Eastern oil and her personal history, before arriving at her mother's grave and the intersection of geopolitical interests and individual responsibility. As timely as it was revealing and as witty as wise." -Robert Faires, The Austin Chronicle"In her incisive one-woman, autobiographical play. Playwright Sherry Kramer recalls coming of age, the death of a beloved parent, Judaism, the Middle East crisis and a concise history of the durable Barbie doll … Making Barbie a pivotal character in her narrative, playwright Kramer writes with a fluid hand that balances grief, conflict and the innocence of youth." -Robert Daniels, Variety

"There's not a lot of fat to trim in KRISIT, a satire on Hollywood…. Skewering the greed, vanity and bloated egos of Hollywood types is an easy target that has been done more times than Krisit's crow's-feet. But York's script has plenty of clever quips…." Robert Dominguez, Daily NewsWhat is "Krisit"? … a reclusive and peevish former movie star who hasn't left her home in 25 years. When the show opens she's lolling in her tub, wearing make-up and flashy jewels and being the sharp, brooks-no-argument grand dame with her new maid Lulu. Lulu is clearly role-playing. She's entirely too knowledgeable about who's who and who's doing what to who in Hollywood. She reads the industry press a little too avidly and she's awfully eager to lure Krisit out of retirement. In no time Lulu is taking a meeting with director Peter, who has a history with Krisit, and a stalled career that makes him desperate to have a project green-lighted. York uses the set-up to have fun commenting with engaging (and occasionally brutal) honesty on many things, including the insults of aging. Krisit has a leakage issue; Peter trades in wives for younger models to convince himself he still has whatever it is he needs to tell himself he has… York's voice is distinct as she reminds us how myopically we see ourselves even as we are blind to key truths; and about our relentless pursuit of ambitions which are generally not worth relentless pursuit. York also shows off a demented imagination with things like her solution for what to do with liposuctioned fat… Jackie Demaline, Cincinnati Equirer

"The words `I was there', intoned repeatedly by the characters in HIT THE WALL, give Ike Holter's play about the 1969 Stonewall riots the self-consecrated holiness of solemn testimony. But the crucial refrain is: `The reports of what happened next are not exactly clear'. Given the extent to which urban legend and documented research of the events have blurred together over the decades, any dramatic consideration of Stonewall must embrace the mythology. So Mr Holter's impassioned evocation of the sparks that ignited the gay rights movement…are strongest when stylized interpretation eclipses conventional realism… Watching the characters strut through a liberating dance that erupts into chaos and violence when police lights pierce the smoky haze gives the sense of being caught up in that momentous clash… Among the most fully realized figures are Carson, a black drag queen as fearful as he is imperious; Peg, a `stone butch' lesbian ostracized by her family; and the `Snap Queen Team' of Tano and Mika, throwing shade at passers-by from their perch on a Christopher Street stoop. Fierce and funny, the verbal and attitudinal exchanges swapped by this duo with the formidable Carson owe more to slam poetry and 1980s Harlem voguing than to authentic period behavior. The play is deeply affecting at times, notably when Carson is bitterly rebuked during a rare foray outside in daylight to pay his respects at the funeral of Judy Garland. Or when Peg's uptight sister insensitively suggests how much better off she would be if she could just `hold it in'. …[We] feel the unendurable pain of self-denial. …What's perhaps more significant is that Mr Holter is working in a vernacular that speaks sincerely and directly to today's gay youth. His freewheeling play invites them to honor the earlier generation that broke the chains of marginalization and invisibility." David Rooney, The New York Times

"With the craft and depth of a fine novelist, Mr Belber creates a mosaic of pointed incidents imparting vital information. Beautifully dramatized is the subtext of enduring the damage by a troubled family background, as evidenced by Joan's circuitous life journey with its bouts of self-sabotage, irrational decisions, selfishness and redemptive self-awareness. The form of the memory play is taken to the zenith by JOAN." Theatre Scene "With bold ambition to do just that, to tell the story of one woman's life with honesty and integrity, playwright Stephen Belber's JOAN offers a kaleidoscopic look at its fictional, titular character through a lens of sweeping longitude that slowly creates an absorbing and dramatically effective portrait. The humanity painted by Mr Belber's play is moving precisely because of its simplicity and ordinariness. Every person has a story. Joan's is worth seeing." Stage Left "In many ways, Joan has led a normal existence: daughter and mother, lover and wife, sister and friend, artist and teacher. She has had affairs and heartaches, hopes and frustrations. What's less ordinary is how the playwright Stephen Belber tells her story: in nonchronological vignettes that jump around various points in her life. …JOAN is a fractured portrait that holds together." Elisabeth Vincentelli, The New Yorker

"THE SHADOW is a play about society, a political play. It is not so much a political parody as a poetic and philosophical work of art. It is a play about Man in Society, but also about Good and Evil, Love and Death. Like all of Shvarts' plays it is funny, but it is also eerie. The Shadow is a play about any country under the yoke of a powerful dictatorship which works its will through a dehumanized bureaucracy." Avril Pyman "The twofold nature of the satire in THE SHADOW is clear. Corruption in the social order parallels and reflects corruption in the governmental order and both fear anything or anyone that threatens reform, for implicit in reform is the end of privilege. Where such societal and governmental corruption is prevalent, suggests Shvarts, the mere hint of reform is enough to galvanize the perpetrators of corruption into a massive campaign not just to block reform but to eliminate it at its source." Harold B Segel "THE SHADOW does not offer a version of easy, magical, utopian transformation of social reality. Shvarts leaves the satiric paradigms unsubverted, untransformed at the end of the play. The story of the hero's attainment of magical power contradicts, but does not undermine, various opposed stories about evil forces that continue to reign in society and in the hearts of individual people." Duffield White

"…Duke was the man. The play [is] essentially a not-so-thinly-disguised homage to his amazingly rich and humble life, from early Olympic beginnings to an acting career in Hollywood, to being sheriff of Honolulu, to returning home and basking in the role of Hawaii's cultural ambassador. …`Here was a man who was as important to the people of Hawaii as Michael Jordan was to Chicagoans.' But we're not talking some dusty history lecture… Who could resist getting sucked into such a timeless fable? Duke's statue in Waikiki comes to life when it's discovered that Hawaii's surf has been missing for two weeks; the ocean's `like glass', the groms say. This is no average flat spell, he realizes as the ultra evil Mr Double Bogey has plans to turn the entire Hawaiian Island chain into the world's biggest golf course and convention center. Bogey's holding the surf hostage and won't give it back until Duke presents him with all Hawaii's land deeds. So-in between historically informative monologues detailing Duke's life-the good guys go looking for the surf, literally…" Marcus Sanders, Surf News

"It starts off easy, sweet and very funny. Norma is a professional cuddler. Now I have heard of professional cuddlers but to my knowledge I have never met one nor have I ever understood the what, why and wherefore of their `profession'. Nevertheless there she is engaging in her cuddling work. Also just to get things off to a weird and wonderful start there we see on stage Dog, not just a dog but the Dog who as it turns out is a human man barking and otherwise behaving like one would expect of a dog. Seems the dog got lost from its owners and found its way into the care of Norma. But Norma wants very much to return the dog to its real owners and to that end visits the local coffee shop and posts a photo of the dog directing the owner where to find her and the dog. Yes, yes I know this is all rather strange but hang in there, it gets even better. At the coffee shop she is met by a barista, a fellow by the name of Norm. Seems Norm is a huge fan of the late great Whitney Houston. In fact Norm routinely takes video of himself dancing in a very flamboyant manner to Houston music. At first their encounter is rather stressed. But slowly Norm and Norma begin to develop a very much unexpected relationship. As the story unfolds what becomes obvious is that both Norm and Norma have been long suffering from a failed relationship, shattered love and ultimately deep loneliness. This is when the story begins to turn. What starts as wild, outlandish and funny morphs into something far deeper. But I will not spoil the story for you. …It is one of those all too rare theatrical presentations that reaches beyond the easy and superficial and probes both heart and mind. For this I also salute playwright Dominic Finocchiaro. Want to see something remarkably unique and richly entertaining? …Just what you are looking for." Ron Irwin, Los Angeles Post-Examiner "Wow! …The kind of play you'll want to tell all your romcom-loving friends (and just about anyone else in search of smart, funny, heartstrings-tugging, feel-good new theater) not to miss." Steven Stanley, Stage Scene LA "Recommended… Finocchiaro is a fine comic talent." Gray Palmer, Stage Raw

"He is James Joyce reborn as a rap artist." Mel Gussow, The New York Times "What Wellman does best [is] approach the mystery of things without succumbing to mute darkness." Charles McNulty, Village Voice "Wellman is our latter-day Brecht, providing the Verfremdung, the `making strange' that makes us see what has been before us all along." Marjorie Perloff

"Haunting, poetic and achingly tender, the pitch perfect HOW IS IT THAT WE LIVE OR SHAKEY JAKE + ALICE conveys love in a way that will leave you thinking about what it means for two hearts to be entwined for the brief flash of the human life span. It's as if someone forgot to tell playwright Len Jenkin that new plays are not supposed to be this good… The story and structure are deceptively simple. We meet Shakey Jake and Alice as teens, huddling for shelter, laughing, questioning, proclaiming their love and confusion under the bridge. Years pass between scenes that take us to young adults whose lives didn't turn out as they'd hoped, and finally to elderly people facing challenges beyond their control. …Two supporting characters serve as charismatic narrators, characters and catalysts in multiple roles, not unlike El Gallo in The Fantasticks or the Leading Player in Pippin… The biggest wow goes to Jenkin, the Obie Award-winning playwright who has reached for the stars in HOW IS IT THAT WE LIVE and, somehow, managed to bring one down to twinkle… HOW IS IT THAT WE LIVE is, in the end, a play about the human condition that doesn't condescend, simplify or slip into sentimentality. Amid life's inevitable disappointments and fears, it beats with hope that love is real and prevails. Shakey Jake and Alice aren't famous or rich. They don't change the world by the standards we usually apply to people who are deemed to be making a difference. But their love for each other turns out to be more important than being remembered for a brief sojourn on the earth. In fact, this play suggests, that may be the only important thing. Shakey Jake tells Alice that when they come back in another life, even if she's a tree, he will find her and love her. The marvel and joy is that you believe it." Nancy Churnin, Dallas News

"Fast-paced and riveting…be prepared to have your eyes opened, your own pre-conceived notions debunked, and your head left spinning…I highly recommend it." Broadway World "HUMAN RITES…soars with mind-blowing ideas." Broad Street Review "When Westerners decry the practices of other cultures, and campaign for change, they may mean well. But are they really spreading enlightenment, or shame? Who gets to decide whether an initiation rite is barbaric or an exemplary form of bonding? Are there any cultural absolutes, or are all cultural norms equally valid? This constellation of questions animates Seth Rozin's crafty and invigorating play, HUMAN RITES." Julia Klein, Philadelphia Inquirer "Plays like HUMAN RITES-thoughtfully written and thought-provoking-are what keep a lot of people, myself included, eagerly going to the theater." WHYY-FM "It's so refreshing to experience a play that relentlessly challenges its audience to rethink its assumptions, about both big-picture issues and the human characters wrestling with them." Indianapolis Business Journal

"The triumph of Charles Evered's AN ACTOR'S CAROl is that it takes an old story and makes it seem new…his modernized take on Dickens ubiquitous holiday parable takes the Ebenezer Scrooge story out of Pre-Industrial Revolution London and plops it in a squalid playhouse where season after season of no-budget theater has been subsidized by the holiday cash cow that A Christmas Carol has become. It works, because Evered's even handed, light hearted reinvention of the source material not only delivers Dickens' original story of human redemption, but also adds some very relevant ideas about tolerance, inclusion and the theater." Michael C Moore, Kitsap Sun "If A Christmas Carol restores our love of Christmas, AN ACTOR'S CAROL restores our love of Christmas AND theatre!" Hal Linden, Tony award winning actor "Shines a 21st Century light on an age old tale with cleverness, wit and charm!" V J Hume, C V Independent "A charming and hilarious modernization of A Christmas Carol." Catherine Randazzo, Associate Artist, Florida Studio Theatre

In 1692, as the Salem Witch Trials rage in nearby Salem, the residents of Peabody, Massachusetts are going through their own crucible, and they are just, like, really sick of crucibles. The surprising election of the boorish lout Dunning Kruger to be the local reverend has thrown the town into turmoil and pitted the townsfolk against each other like never before in the history of the New World, and that's saying something because the history of the New World is really messed up. Ezekiel Farmer and his wife Verity must reconcile their differences (she voted for Kruger, he for the more experienced female challenger, Goody Constant Bending) and somehow find a way to resist the ugly tide that threatens them all. TOO MANY CRUCIBLES is an extremely unsanctioned companion piece to Miller's classic THE CRUCIBLE that proves some witch hunts turn up witches.

"ANTONY is not a melodrama, ANTONY is not a tragedy, ANTONY is not a stage play. ANTONY is an acting-out of love, jealousy and anger in five acts." Alexandre Dumas (père) "…the evening of the first performance of ANTONY in 1831. It was an uproar, a tumult, an effervescence… no exaggeration could describe it. The audience was delirious; they clapped, sobbed, wept and shouted. The young women were all hopelessly in love with Antony; the young men would have blown their brains out for Adèle d'Hervey. Modern love was admirably portrayed, with quite extraordinary intensity by Bocage and Mme Dorval: Bocage the man of destiny and Mme Dorval the susceptible woman par excellence. The burning passion of the play set every heart aflame…. These are really characters speaking, and not the author, as is often seen today. Alexandre Dumas really has the impersonality without which there is no true playwright. He takes men and women, shoves them into a passionate action, makes them live, love, suffer, work, according the play's fatality, but does not reveal himself." Théophile Gautier "Our author, drunk on youth and vitality, tossed to the crowd, avid for emotion, ANTONY, whose vogue was a frenzy. Drawing-rooms were suddenly filled with crowds of young men with pale faces, bushy eyebrows, bony frames, long black hair, and eyes veiled by tortoise-shell spectacles." Eugène de Mirecourt

D'lady returns home after years of wandering and expects everyone to greet her with open arms, instead her arrival is met with closed doors and accusations and she must figure out where she fits in the new landscape. "Hometown is a metaphor for the relationships that have made us who we are. Palmer's exploration of her characters' reasons for clinging to one another is like a treasure map, giving up one clue at a time and concealing the reward till near the end. This map is well worth following, for it illuminates the mysteries of ordinary life and our hopes for happiness." Kat Chamberlain, I T N Review

A much-beloved Roman Catholic priest is suddenly thrust into the midst of a scandal. THE DEAD BOY is a story of longing and taboo. "Whether you see the play as a loss of innocence, an abuse of power or an ill fated love story, THE DEAD BOY is a modern-day gothic drama, every bit as tragic and sensational as the headlines about the Catholic church." Marlene Canty, Asbury Park Press "When the boy, only symbolically dead, stands up, stares at heaven to look god in the eye, and swears he'll never do what he's about to do, then goes ahead and does it, the earth stands still. But when the boy cuts his throat, noiselessly, with an invisible blade, the world stood still again, and even god was appalled. THE DEAD BOY is one of the best experiences I've ever had in a theater." Mark Howell, Solares Hill Weekly (Key West) "More than I could have expected from all aspects of this emotionally startling and passionately performed play." Dan Johnson, redbank.com

When you make glass for a living, your body breaks. Victor, the last in a long line of glassmakers, lies under the knife on the operating table for heart and lung surgery, while his family waits to know if he will live or die. An inside-out surrealist ride on the wishes and fears of a family as they wait in a hospital waiting room, where every thought and terror becomes manifest. It is a play about the end of the American manufacturing era, a postmodern history of glass making, and a tale about the need we have to turn the story of our breakable lives into an unbreakable story. "Sherry Kramer's THINGS THAT BREAK is a terribly difficult, painfully beautiful play in which everything is broken. The storytelling is jagged, taking surreal twists as it shifts back and forth between the worried wife of a man having heart surgery and her grown son and daughter… This is a wildly imaginative piece of work… …listening to Miss Kramer's kaleidoscopic language…is like being under some hallucinogenic anesthetic…" Nelson Pressley, The Washington Times "You may have heard that playwright Sherry Kramer is biting off more than she can chew in THINGS THAT BREAK, her free-form comedy about sibling rivalry, heart surgery, and the American dream. Don't believe it. The lady chews like a champion. Chomps, actually, greedily bobbling up insights that would surely escape lesser writers, just as she did when introducing the metaphysics-obsessed lesbian lovers of DAVID'S REDHAIRED DEATH…" Bob Mondello, CityPaper

Country Western star Carolee is careening toward a climactic meeting with her old lover and singing partner. All the action takes place in her bedroom-in the rump of her customized million-dollar tour bus. Authentic country music background (the playwright traveled with Loretta Lynn, Dolly Parton, Kris Kristofferson, Tammy Wynette, and George Jones). Lends itself to cabaret performance format, but can also be performed as a "straight" play. "The play is set on the bus of a country music star, Carolee Crockett, a heartbroken, pill-popping crooner. Her bus is parked in the lot of a Grand Ole Opry kind of place, where she is about to be honored, in concert, along with…the singer and love of her life, who some months earlier had left her without a word in a motel in Albuquerque. If the plot has the feel of a country song- 'You're no better than you ought to be, but you're good enough for me,' to quote a song from the script-well, that's on purpose. It was gleefully played by a gleefully miscast ensemble, which included Sigourney Weaver, as the whiny, weak Carolee; Kevin Kline as…the pot-smoking, libidinous and self-justifying Lothario, and the lithe, soft-spoken Phoebe Cates as Carolee's bawdy, bosomy confidante." Bruce Weber, The New York Times

Alessandro Camon's two-hander transpires in overlapping monologues between Anna Jackson, a traumatized shut-in whose police officer son was killed in the line of duty, and Gabriel Wayland, a prison inmate in solitary confinement. The characters-both sympathetic, both impassioned-hold forth about their radically different views on the nature of time, regret and the criminal justice system. Gabriel speaks from his cell, Anna from the prison-like home. "…His drama comes full circle in a beautifully realized denouement that emphasizes not only our human need for connection, but our innate and sometimes surprising capacity for forgiveness." F Kathleen Foley, Los Angeles Times "I was riveted…sharp writing and observations… In their haunted isolation, for all their differences, victim and perpetrator both experience time as a tool of torture. And then, in a twist I can't give away, they discover a connection that carries with it a hint of redemption." Steve Lopez, Los Angeles TimesStunning… Poetic writing… An inspired two-hander that casts a jaundiced eye on the criminal justice and prison systems… Camon employs the same grim nuance that was so successful in his Oscar-nominated screenplay for The Messenger… His familiarity with the subject brings immediacy as well as emotional and psychological veracity to his writing." The Hollywood Reporter

Three years ago, Sarah Kennedy thought she was hired as a translator for a corporate military prison in Baghdad, only to discover that she would be acting as an interrogator instead, retrieving information from prisoners of war-by any means necessary. Now, Lily Strauss, a disgraced reporter in the waning days of newspaper journalism, must uncover Sarah's story, cutting through webs of corporate lies and government deception until finally faced with the choice between her own journalistic ideals, and the devastating consequences of telling the truth. ON THE HEAD OF A PIN, a new political thriller, is an exploration of who watches the watchers, and what happens when they look away. "Frank Winters is a promising playwright." Frank Scheck, New York Post "Expert, thrilling, and surefooted as anything on stage in New York City this season! Vividly told, vividly acted, vividly directed-ON THE HEAD OF A PIN sweeps us away!" Theaterscene.net "Captivating-this is a play to place on your `must see' list!" Theatre Reviews Limited "A fast-paced, straight-on, suspenseful script-these `strange men' definitely promise a broad appeal to theatre audiences!' Galo Magazine

Damaged Language contains four radio plays by Richard Nelson:LANGUAGES SPOKEN HERE Giles Cooper Award winner "a morally ambiguous comedy…an American in London thinks he's translating a novel by a penniless Polish emigre, only to find, after befriending and patronizing him, that the Pole has ditched his benefactor for another hack… True and funny as well." Paul Ferris, The Observer "A neat, beautifully written, serious comedy about translation, exile and betrayal-one of the very best on Radio 3 last year." Nigel Andrews, The Listener "A rare sort of treat…a very funny play, delicate in its touches, but sharp as a needle." Gillian Reynolds, The Daily TelegraphEATING WORDS Giles Cooper Award winner "Totally enthralling… Richard Nelson is God's gift (or at least America's) to English radio drama." Nigel Andrews, The Listener "A thoroughly absorbing account of two writers on a drunken tour of London." Plays and Players ADVICE TO EASTERN EUROPE "A masterly short play-a post-Cold War romance that is witty [and] technically bold-examines how one woman's Utopia may be another person's capitalist nightmare." Quentin Curtis, The Independent on SundayTHE AMERICAN WIFE "A reminder that Nelson is the sharpest observer around of the gulf separating Britain and America." Michael Billington, The Guardian

Alice intends to end her life in the Badlands of South Dakota, alone, in nature, only she keeps being saved by a Cowboy, out on a silent retreat. It could be an American romance story, but Alice didn't ask to be saved. She doesn't want saving by the Cowboy, and she certainly doesn't want it from the Man who has driven across country, and who has walked miles and miles to come and take her back home. Men are the cause and reason for her despair, and yet these two men, determined to be heroes, won't let her have her pain, as her own. Until it's too late.

The period between life and rebirth involves 49 days and three states of Bardo according to The Tibetan Book of the Dead. On a clear day and in a fit of bravery, Clyde Macey follows his unrequited love for a stranger named Syvia, only to enter this Bardo cycle when his car hits a tree. He can't let go of his life alone, and the Bardo is scary, vast, and painful. And, he's American; he hasn't prepared for this Tibetan ritual of passage. With the help of Syvia, her husband Will, and two other reluctant guides, Mel and Myra, Clyde can finally be heard, loved, reborn, and free.

"A deliciously clever theatrical rom-com… As we left the theatre after the show, an enthralled audience member exclaimed, 'That was charming, really charming.' And it was. Three superb actors, one great text, and a director with a strong eye for detail ensures a production that is deeply satisfying to watch… Victor L Cahn's script is soaked in optimism. It feels like he is rooting for relationships. He unpacks the complexity of relationship compromise in an inventive, funny, and creative way. He allows for marvelous character development and enjoyable slaloming through the winding twists of the plot. He has cut away any extraneous fat and allowed for a precise, lean offering that leaves you perfectly sated. ROMANTIC TRAPEZOID is a sophisticated comedy that deals with the complexities of modern relationships with wit and intelligence." stagebiz.com "ROMANTIC TRAPEZOID is a romantic whirlwind that takes us through the course of love that starts out doomed and ends stronger than ever." Clubsocial-ny.com "Bubbly, clever, and fresh." theatrescene.net "A brisk look into commitment issues…vibrant, funny, and refreshing…Cahn's script can veer smartly from the classic romantic trope it musters…the play is a quick "pick me up' for anyone that wants to see a pair fall and rise again to realize, indeed, they are a dynamic duo." Diandrareviewsitall.com "Adorable, retro romantic caper…engaging and lovely to observe . . . a highly entertaining series of vignettes." Robertaonthearts.com

Richard Lamparsky is divorced, unsuccessful, and 40. Stephanie Winwood is beautiful, rich, and 28. But she's also just been stood up for her own lavish wedding at the Waldorf Astoria…which is where Richard comes in. Stephanie needs a stand-in groom…and Richard needs a whole new life. But he's about to find out that it's not quite the fairy tale it seems. "The unusual love triangle at the heart of Lia Romeo's knee-slapping PG-rated sex comedy, RIGHT PLACE, RIGHT TIME, pits well-to-do, hot-to-trot divorcee Gloria Winwood against her equally wealthy and equally oversexed daughter, Stephanie, in an open-and even friendly-competition for the dubious affections of increasingly intoxicated romance novelist Richard Lamparsky, who still has some unresolved feelings for his snippy, rune-faced ex-wife Linda Martin. Gloria picks Richard up in the bar of the Waldorf Astoria, where he is getting more and more sozzled while impatiently waiting for Linda to show up. Then the middle-aged woman-on-the-make whisks Richard upstairs to her luxurious suite of rooms, where Stephanie the boohooing bride-to-be is wondering why her runaway bridegroom Mark is an embarassing no-show on their wedding day. After Richard and Stephanie drown their separate sorrows in alcohol, quicker than you can say Rebound Romance, a marathon session of bedroom bingo ensues. Then Linda and Mark turn up unexpectedly and at different times, like two proverbial snakes at a garden party. But will the unwelcome appearance of Richard's ex-wife and Stephanie's ex-fiancé squelch the Kardasian-like ardor that's raising the room temperature 10 degrees? Dear reader, you will have to [see] RIGHT PLACE, RIGHT TIME to find out. …this comic soufflé… …in the right place at the right time for laughs." Robert W McDowell, Triangle Arts & Entertainment

"Remind[s] me that being scared at the theatre is fantastic." New York Post "MASSACRE is a brilliantly sustained banshee wail of madness." Vulture.com "Rivera is a poet who is also a clown, an American playwright whose dramas mingle our homegrown psychological naturalism with symbol-heavy European idea-drama and lush infusions of Latin American magic realism." Michael Feingold, The Village Voice "A deeply unsettling play." Curtain Up

This moral thriller unfolds as a mysterious man and woman meet for a tryst on a bench in the garden of an anonymous luxury hotel. "With HOW SHALL WE BE SAVED? Freed has created a heady psychological whodunit that questions both past and present in order to give us some insight into our fragile lives and collective future." The Hollywood Reporter "HOW SHALL WE BE SAVED? [is] succinct and powerful." Royal Shakespeare Company

"The vast reservoir of pop culture Lyle mines to create dialogue that is both realistic and stylized reveals a kind of Aspergery love of language that's hard to overpraise. The play isn't laden with jokes so much as a way of saying things with hilarious understatement. You may want to see it twice just to hear all the lines you missed the first time."Arnold Wayne Jones, Dallas Voice "It could have been enough for Lyle to set the entire play at this awkward, weird, and painfully honest barbecue; he still would have ended up with an engaging lark that's sitcom-funny. But then he decides to end the world."Lyndsey Wilson, D Magazine "BARBECUE APOCALYPSE is a tasty nine-layer dip of comedy commentary about the slippery matters of marriage, adult friendships and career failure (real or perceived)."Elaine Liner, Dallas Observer "A good comedy makes you laugh. A really good one makes you think. BARBECUE APOCALYPSE is a really good comedy."Nancy Churnin, Dallas Morning News "A hilarious frenzy of existential angst."Martha Heimberg, TheaterJones.com "BARBECUE APOCALYPSE suggests, in no uncertain terms, that these thoroughly average Americans were far more savage when they were sipping mango margaritas and failing to make small talk as compared to a year later when their new hobbies include devouring raccoons and threatening to stab electronic devices, among other acts defined as depraved by current standards of decorum."Kevin Greene, Chicago Stage Standard