"A delightfully breezy 90 minutes. It's a sampler platter of religious patriarchy, wedding antipathy, and athlete hero worship—each executed with insight, humor, and refreshing brevity...Cragin-Day writes a whip-smart female lead...Kraft and Leeds shift toward the sitcom-esque with their hyperbolic comedy 'Wedding Bash'...If 'A Woman' offers the best depiction of human nature and 'Wedding Bash' the worst, 'Break Point' shows us the most accurate."
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"Superb playwriting, expert direction, and outstanding performances. ‘Summer Shorts’ is a true celebration of new American plays…Comedy reigns in ‘Wedding Bash’…The wedding bash gets bashed in this very clever show…‘Break Point' is a captivating view of one man's zeal for recognition at the cost of good sportsmanship and integrity...‘Summer Shorts’ is a highlight of the summertime theatre season. The plays are an excellent selection of pieces that will enthrall audiences.”
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"It's good to see LaBute in fine form with 'Break Point,' the highlight of this year's B program...Under the author's acute direction, Greer nails both Oliver's entitlement and the flop sweat underlying it...Cragin-Day's 'A Woman,' the most original offering...Haney's sensitive direction is aided enormously by the work of Ikeda and Boyett...'Wedding Bash' is a frothy little sketch...The wrap-up is hasty and ill-conceived, but the actors mine the material for their fair share of laughs."
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“Well-acted and thought-provoking...'A Woman:' Thanks to the excellent performances under Haney's direction, the back-and-forth is never less than compelling to watch...'Wedding Bash:' It's all basically a silly sketch comedy, but the dialog and performances make for a fun addition to the evening...'Break Point:' It's nicely done, and the two actors make you feel like you are watching a metaphorical game of tennis...All in all, the collection...is among the strongest in recent years."
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"'A Woman:' A staid, thoughtful examination of what fighting for one's beliefs looks like...'Wedding Bash:' A cartoony look at the limits of friendship...Feels like something out of a 'Seinfeld' episode...It enables the short to acutely poke fun at the strange rituals of the modern wedding...'Break Point:' LaBute—who directs here as well—creates mysterious characters with murky motives...'Break Point' tantalizes us with the question of who really has the upper hand."
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"While the three plays in 'Summer Shorts 2017: Festival of New American Short Plays - Series B' have been given proficient productions each seems ultimately unsatisfactory. All seem like first drafts rather than completely fulfilling their potential. The three authors could learn a lesson from the three plays in Series A which all hit their marks. Interesting experiments but failures nevertheless."
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"This crop did not live up to past experiences. And the very odd fact about this is that all of the plays had the nugget of a great idea at their core...What is surprising here is that with all the talent that is out there ready to submit a script or to jump on stage, this choice of plays and actors was the best that could be found...I don’t know the process for this festival, so perhaps the cast was short on rehearsal time...The directors' work did little to give these stories a leg up."
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“Brave, unique, and thought-provoking one-act plays…'A Woman:' Cragin-Day keeps the language natural and the tension unexpected. Haney’s direction keeps us intrigued and visually interested throughout. ‘Wedding Bash’ is an engaging piece with excellent performances from the entire cast…A highly humorous and enjoyable show…LaBute brings us nothing short of brilliance, satisfyingly delivered with the fine acting skills of KeiLyn Durrel Jones and John Garrett Greer.”
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