←The Depot for New Play Readings

The Mackinac Bridge, infamous for length and height, provides a comedic setting for Maripat Allen’s delightful “Five Miles Long, Two Hundred Feet High.” Jennifer must cross the bridge, but terrified by stories of cars having been blown over the bridge’s side, she pays someone to drive her and meets Jason, a veteran who understands fear. With Aristotelian unity of time and place, Allen’s play entertains us through every minute of the journey, one in which Jennifer and Jason cross more than the Great Lakes below them. Strongly recommended.

In Glenn Alterman’s “Unheard,” awkward silences punctuate the conversation of an estranged father and son, between whom incommunication has been a primary characteristic. Ironically, then, offstage sounds (hospital bells, a commanding voice over an intercom), move the action forward to an unexpected revelation. The result is a piercing meditation on the mysteries of filial attachment and the silence of death. A powerful ten-minute play, “Unheard” can be produced either in an audio format or in a fully staged production. Strongly recommended.

In ten episodes of a Survivor-like contest, Greg Lam’s “Treachery Island” elicits plenty of laughs, as a group of predictable types—the scheming contestant, cynical showrunner, and dumb jock—manage the multiple crises of an unexplained global catastrophe. Reimaging the reality genre as a workplace drama, Lam gives us three-dimensional characters off-script and off-camera, whose actual survival we care about. With multiple plot twists in every episode, the play delivers a fast-paced, brilliant satire of both reality television and the tropes of apocalyptic literature. Ideal for multiple formats: radio, stage, or screen as a limited television series. Highly recommended.

In Donna Hoke’s “Mabel Talks,” the silent film star Mabel Normand addresses the producers and directors who shaped and stymied her career. While this engrossing one-woman show introduces audiences to a brilliant comedian who has been forgotten, in Hoke’s deft treatment, the play delivers more than a biography. By letting Mabel speak for herself, Hoke depicts Normand as a strong-willed artist, at turns funny, flirtatious, and combative, and so richly imagined, she charms us with the charisma that made her one of the first film celebrities of the 20th century. A gem for actors. Highly recommended.

In “The Equivalent of Sensation,” Arianna Rose uses simple props and witty repartee to take the audience on a furious journey from staid Baltimore to the avant-garde salons of Paris, evoking ocean liners, trolleys, WWI ambulances, bats and dogs and cannabis-laced brownies along the way. Reminiscent of Harpo Marx’s comedy, Rose’s imaginative staging focuses on Etta Cone, an early 20th-century art collector. Called back from death, Etta has one night to review her life and discover whether she ever truly lived. The play is both fun and poignant, and a great vehicle for older women actors. Strongly recommended.

In “Faith, Trust and …” Rachel Feeny-Williams creates a vivid Neverland with characters from J. M. Barrie’s "Peter Pan" transported to a metropolis overrun by underworld bosses and organized crime. Bodies pile up, and suspense tightens. Audience surprise at all the plot’s twists testifies to Feeny-Williams’ mastery in upending expectations, and yet the play observes the classic noir convention of addressing injustice. At first comic, then tragic, “Faith, Trust and…” is a blast for actors. Set designers will love it. Some roles can be double cast, and the play can be adapted for radio. Very highly recommended.

In “The Guys,” Lori M. Myers imagines a speed dating event attended by conjoined twins. In less masterful hands, the situation could devolve into cheap laughs at the expense of the differently abled, but Myers creates characters, not types, and we get to know them. Larry and Barry bicker and feud, and their zingers are truly funny, but Honey, a compassionate woman, helps the brothers reconcile. She also gets a date. “The Guys” is a great choice for short play festivals, especially if romance and dating are themes. Highly recommended.

Set in London, during the plague of 1609, Rich Rubin’s “Four Sparrows” immediately captivates, moving rapidly from one crisis to another: secret burial, imprisonment, near starvation, and breach birth. The events are drawn from history, a time when physicians operated within a sphere they believed was ruled by God and the movement of the stars. Yet the drama’s sober topic does not preclude moments of humor or poignancy. Without explicit references, the play also resonates with the AIDs era and the Covid pandemic, when the effects of plague beset reason and morality as well as bodies. Highly recommended.

Set in 1974, Surrey Houlker’s “for the fish” connects the political turmoil of Watergate with the emotional turmoil of Susanna, a gay thirteen year old searching for acceptance in a small conservative town. Susanna finds solace with her lonely non-binary uncle, who salves alienation by going fishing. Structured lyrically, scenes alternate with “in between bits” (dumb show and monologues), and culminate in wrenching surrealism. The play’s power builds from the accumulation of small consolations: cigarettes, dancing, new shoes. Ultimately “for the fish” revels in brave acts of love and hope in an age of reaction. Very highly recommended.

Amy Tofte’s “Righteous Among Us” raises tough questions about state violence, whether that of Nazis or American law enforcement. The story focuses on Mila Stevens, a young black volunteer at a civil rights center. In scenes that alternate between Mila’s interviews with subjects of a planned Holocaust exhibition and Mila’s monologues, the play delves into reckonings with secrets and lies. With consummate skill, Tofte interweaves multiple family stories and historical settings and throws an emotional wallop. One of the Depot’s actors described her participation “as an honor.” An important play. Strongly recommended.