No title
73 Plays in Quarantine – Part II
by Thomas Macias
If you haven’t read Part I – click here to catch up!
In this part, you’ll see the data concerning the plays we’ve read, along with naming a few of my favorites since we started reading! As a refresher, I’m talking about the 73 plays a group I’ve been a part of have read since March 21st.
With this data, it’s helped give me some perspective on the voices we’re hearing from and the types of plays we’re taking in. I’m excited to share some of my findings!
A quick note – this was data collected from my own personal research, and as such, is fairly un-scientific. I did not survey the playwrights, I just found information on them. Therefore, it is quite possible that I’m mis-representing some playwrights here, and if I am, I apologize. This is meant to be a snapshot of what we’ve read, to give us some guidance on what we should read next.
The Data
We read mostly modern plays from the 2000s. This is probably due to the relatively younger age of our group – most of us are in our 20’s.
*Not shown is the outlier Long Day’s Journey Into Night by Eugene O’Neill, written in 1941.
ARTIST SPOTLIGHT:
Thomas Macias, 28, has been with the Purple Rose since his 2013-14 apprenticeship. He has worked with The Purple Rose Theatre Company for 5 years as a Stage Manager before transitioning to his current role as the Development Associate for the theatre. He is also a Resident Artist and stars alongside Jeff Daniels in Guest Artist, a feature-length film based on the World Premiere Purple Rose Stage Production.
We read mostly plays from the United States – specifically from playwrights in NYC and Michigan. Again, not much of a surprise, but I was glad to see that 14 of the plays came from Michiganders!
Just over half of the plays we’ve read are from male-identifying playwrights. While we are nearly at gender parity in regards to Male & Female, we are woefully under-represented by other genders. To reiterate – this is just from the research I was able to do, not coming directly from the playwrights, and it’s possible I’m mis-representing some of our playwrights.
As mentioned earlier, most of the playwrights we’ve read plays from are white – but here’s the actual graph of what we’ve read thus far.
Lastly, here’s two more graphs, displaying whether or not we knew who the playwright was, and the types of activities our group has been engaged in (Game Night, Anti-Racism Conversations, Trivia Fundraisers, Watch Party, or a Reading).
My Favorites
Here are a few categories of my favorite plays that we’ve read.
Honorable mentions:
Death House by Jason Karasev
Two chaplains taking care of a prisoner in their last hours before receiving the death penalty. The questions this play asks about life, dignity, and what really matters are explored using a subject matter I hadn’t seen in theatre before.
Shape of Things by Neil LaBute
One of those plays that’s fun until it isn’t. The premise is believable, if a little far-fetched, though we don’t realize it until the end. What really makes a relationship real?
Breathe Me In by Rachel Lynett
I’m a CoDA, or a Child of a Deaf Adult. Because of this, I was lucky to grow up knowing many deaf people and seeing Deaf Theatre. Deaf Theatre usually means “regular” plays translated into sign language. There’s not many plays out there that have deaf main characters – Tribes by Nina Raine comes to mind. Breathe Me In uses a deaf main character (in a cast of 3) in a way I’ve never seen before, without belittling the character or her deafness, while allowing a hearing audience to know everything that happens at every moment – pretty special stuff.
The Forest by Lia Romeo
This play deals with a daughter trying to help support her aging mother, with the rest of her life also in flux. The Forest gets an honorable mention because of how the play lets the audience into her mother’s mind as she deals with her dementia.
Favorite Pulitzer Prize-winning plays:
The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds by Paul Zindel
Williamston Theatre did this play in 2009, before I moved to Michigan, and I wished I’d been around to see it. When our group read it, I was surprised to find it had been the Pulitzer Prize winner in 1971 as it read much more like a modern play. A heartbreaking story about depression and bullying and what that can do to your life and the lives of those you love.
Cost of Living by Martyna Majok
I read this play with a friend a few months before we read it as a group, and it was just as good as the first time. This 2018 Pulitzer-Prize winner is so beautiful and so heartbreaking. This play is cathartic and if you have a chance, I highly recommend reading it.
Funniest plays:
Man of Manchester by Peter Florian
What was the last play you read in iambic pentameter? Probably one written by Shakespeare. One of the members of our group let us read his play, written in iambic pentameter, and not only was it impressive in that aspect, but also that it was genuinely funny! I’m glad he felt comfortable enough to share it, and look forward to reading his next draft.
God of Carnage by Yasmina Reza
The Purple Rose did this play in fall of 2017 and it’s one of the funniest plays about awful people I know. We preceded this reading with Art by the same playwright which I had read in college. Art is a very funny play in its own right, and I recommend that too if you like God of Carnage.
Favorite new (to me) plays:
Ink’dwell by E.E. Adams
We found Adams on New Play Exchange, and this play is one of my new favorite new plays. Ink’dwell revolves around a family dealing with the loss of a family member, and more specifically that family member and his sister, struggling to stay afloat both literally and figuratively.
An Infinite Ache by David Schulner
This play has echoes of Constellations by Nick Payne, but delivers it in a smoother package. The moment you fall for someone and see how your life might go if you stay in each other’s lives? It’s sad, cute, and hopeful – and all those things can be difficult to get right in a single play.
Best plays I should have read before now:
True West by Sam Shepard
This is a play I’ve just missed seeing a handful of times. We read this after I suggested reading some of Shepard’s lesser known plays – and I have to say this one was my favorite.
The Wolves by Sarah DeLappe
Best plays I revisited (ones I’d seen/read before):
Late by Bethany Roberts
Kill Move Paradise by James Ijames
Hauntingly beautiful plays:
GAEA by Jessica Klimyshina
Pool (no water) by Frantic Assembly
For now, our seats remain empty, but we are planning for our future. Please consider making a donation to support our ongoing efforts to develop new work and move forward in an ever-changing world.
The Purple Rose Theatre Company is a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization. Your gift is tax-deductible to the extent allowed by law.
Related posts
