←Recommendations of Ripe Frenzy

A powerful look at the norm of a school shooting in this country. How do you cope in the aftermath? Riveting and well done.

Distressing and disturbing but ultimately human. Does not try to explain, like so many of our own "manifestos" on why people choose violence; instead, it gives credence to the quiet, mundane nature of seeking answers.

This play is the perfect example of an artistic work that is heartbreaking and includes genuine and well rounded characters while speaking up about this epidemic of violence at the same time. It's not telling you what to think in any way--but it paints a clear picture about what this kind of violence does not only to society at large, but to the people closest to the "blast". I also love that there are three very nuanced roles for women over thirty! I will be covering it on ep 6 of my podcast, "Play-Mates"!

This is one of those plays that I know will stay with me for the rest of my life. I'm a mom to two young boys and man does Barclay get to the heart of a mother's deepest fears. I feel cracked wide open after reading this brilliant play. Ripe Frenzy explores the devastation dealt a mother of a school mass shooter in a way I've never seen and with such complexity and tenderness, it is absolutely tragic. I could go on and on about how brilliant Barclay is, but I am running out of space.

RIPE FRENZY by Jennifer Barclay received a National New Play Network Rolling World Premiere. The partnering NNPN Member Theaters were New Repertory Theatre (Watertown, MA), Synchronicity Theatre (Atlanta, GA), and Greenway Court Theatre (Los Angeles, CA).

This is a brilliant play that uses a tech of Wilder's Our Town to dismantle all our notions of American life as we might like it to be and replaces it with what we are all living among right now, the awful possibility of more tragedy. As the mother of a 15 year old son in high school, I have to say that Ripe Frenzy is a terrifying read that is also an immensely satisfying play.

This is a brilliant play that needs to be done everywhere especially in the political climate we find ourselves in. The issue of high school mass shooting is explored through a unique and critical perspective as we try and make sense of why these incidents occur and what happens to the loved ones of the victims and the perpetrators that are left to pick up the pieces. Barclay uses a highly theatrical medium to full effect and forces humanity to sit together and face ugly truths.

I had the pleasure of seeing the OPC workshop of Ripe Frenzy which ranges from brilliantly funny to bone chilling. Barclay's disquieting play tackles the question: how can a parent continue to love a child who has done the unthinkable? A beautiful meditation on maternal love, friendship and gun culture in America, Ripe Frenzy is also a clever commentary on the way America has seized on Wilder's version of who we are, often willfully misunderstanding the project of Our Town, perhaps the most American of American dramas, which like this play, undertakes to expose our cultural blind spots.

Many times during "Ripe Frenzy," it feels like Jennifer Barclay is eerily channeling Thornton Wilder. Her reimagining of his most famous play to explore the troubling trend of mass shootings is nothing short of genius. Near the play's end, we're faced with the same feeling of dread we had for Emily when we first read Act III of "Our Town," but this time, it is prompted by Zoe... who must come to terms with her son's desperate choice, and her own self-doubt and guilt. Grovers Corners is Anywhere USA. Sadly, nowadays... the same could be said for Tavistown. Outstanding work.

A stunning look at the remnants of violence and the questions that are asked of those left behind. What happens when your beloved child becomes a monster? How do you define yourself after everything that has defined you has been ripped away? Funny and touching as well as horrifying and revelatory, this play is a must read for anyone looking for answers through art in the aftermath of a tragedy.