←Recommendations of Perfect Number

Jewish Plays Project recommends PERFECT NUMBER as a Semi-Finalist for our first Ten Minute Play Contest OOF: On One Foot, which searched nationally for plays from artists of all backgrounds responding to our prompt on healing & repair. PERFECT NUMBER made a strong impact on our community of readers for the Festival of New Jewish Theatre in 2024, who connected with its current relevance and how it theatrically expressed the contest theme of healing & repair.

A friendship is formed on the beach and the larger issues of the sea are addressed with honesty and connection. Beautifully done.

The exquisite charm of the dialogue that shows the friendship between woman and octopus is placed side-by-side against the cold reality of the condition of homelessness and mental health concerns. I found "Perfect Number" to be a contrast of beautiful and sweet set against sad and upsetting. It's a coral pink sphere atop a violently drawn squiggle.

Diana Burbano is exceptional in creating characters that an audience understands. Maxine's backstory, Octavia's dialogue, their commiseration over topics grand and small provide the audience with so much insight.

"Perfect Number" should have a strong, varied & lengthy production history. Produce it.

I highly recommend this strange and fantastic fable play that would be the most fascinating play of any festival. In this random encounter Maxine and Octavia reveal to us new ways of understanding belonging, difference, loss and privilege. Theatrical, beautiful use of language and moving.

A lovely and sweet play about the unlikely friendship between a woman and an octopus. Effortlessly ranges from mathematics to the human condition with humor and kindness. A gorgeous play.

This play won over the reading committee for "The Best Weird Plays of 2020" anthology. With turns humorous and heartfelt, Burbano gets at prickly subjects with a breathtaking honesty and artistic aplomb. I always admire her writing, hiding nothing, accessible, but without treacle or artifice. There's a rivulet of emotion that threads through each line, yet it's never sentimental or maudlin. This play is just... Perfect.

You know a play is going to be something special when it features a "charming and gentle octopus" and this play delivers. A great dive into the challenging topics of homelessness and mental health. Easily accessible to all and packs quite the (octopus) punch.

When I read this beautiful play by Burbano, I felt that it was one of those perfect plays that I wish I had written and that everyone should read and see. Tackling a serious issue like homeliness, but making it so accessible for everyone through fantasy is such a great device, but it's the depth of the language and characters that makes this device work on multiple levels and give it that punch that it gives so well. Perfect Number is near perfection!