A Reading of "queens" at Playwrights' Center

"Now in its 12th year, the Ruth Easton New Play Series gives selected Core Writers 20 hours with collaborators to workshop their script—to write, rewrite, experiment, and shape their work. For playwrights, this means great leaps forward for their plays. For audiences, this means a thrilling and intimate night of theater."

I attended my second "thrilling and intimate night of theater" as part of the 2016-2017 series last night (see also December's Wink by Jen Silverman). It was a clear, cold, snowy, moonlit night, perfect for gathering with fellow theater-lovers and theater-makers to experience a new work of theater. And what an exciting new work Martyna Majok's queens is. Although unfinished (the 3rd act has yet to be written and was described in a few sentences), it drew me right into the world of the play and made me care about these characters. I look forward to seeing the full work onstage sometime in the coming years, but in the meantime, it was a thrill to be a part of the play development process at Playwrights' Center, something they do so well.

"Queens" by Sandbox Theater at Park Square Theatre

Sandbox Theatre has been around for over ten years, but I just "discovered" them two years ago at the Fringe. In those two years I have come to look forward to their shows, which are always new ensemble-created works that combine movement, music, and acting to create something quite unique, sometimes a bit odd, and often lovely. Their newest piece Queens has the smallest cast I've seen - just three actors - but is just as lovely and inventive as their other work. This seemingly simple story of a boy who goes in search of the father he never knew and becomes a boxer, losing himself in the process, is actually much deeper and more layered than it first appears (but I'll let you figure that out for yourself). This group of artists has once again created something unique and special and quietly lovely.