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Humana Festival 2006: The Complete Plays
A collection of all ten scripts from the 2006 Humana Festival of New American Plays.
400 pages, Paperback
First published April 1, 2007
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April 22, 2025Cutting is for Low
By Rha Goddess
By Rha Goddess
February 20, 2010
I've never read a collection of the complete plays of the Humana Festival before, but I think I will be doing so more often. Reading a collection like this, even though it's from 2006, made me excited about the kinds of stuff people are writing and producing these days. I got the book because I had an audition for Act a Lady. I didn't get cast. It wasn't nearly my favorite piece in the collection. I'll be nerdy and give my thoughts one by one.
Three guys and a Brenda - I wish it were longer. There's a lot of drag king talent in the world, especially in Boston, and very few opportunities for it in performance. That should change.
Natural Selection - This play has potential. I could see it being produced. There are some pretty high stakes scenes in it and though I get the statement the playwright is trying to make with regard to culture and the technology age, I feel like maybe there could be a more subtle way of getting it across. Though maybe that was the point. Some neat characters in this and not completely flat, though in the wrong hands they could easily come across as cartoon stereotypes.
Low - This play really effected me. I think this is one of those plays where the piece is entirely dependent on the performer (it's a one woman show) as well as the playwright (who is also the performer). I would love to see what Rha Goddess does with this piece. It's terrifying how easily a young person can become homeless and on the street due to lack of proper medication and diagnosis of mental disability. Absolutely terrifying and heartbreaking.
Act a Lady - Meh, I didn't get cast. No, no, it's fine. It's certainly not a play out of this collection that I would read and think, yes! I want to do THAT play. But maybe my actor-centered brain isn't realizing what is capable in production. I'll go see it.
Sovereignty - Rolin Jones writes for Weeds. This play is awesome and too short and weird and violent and great. I want to read his full length stuff immediately.
Listeners - Meh. Is Bush paranoia already dated? Kind of.
Hotel Cassiopeia - I didn't know who Joseph Cornell was and had to look him up. This play made much more sense after I did that. I think he would be pleased to have such a wacky, thoughtful homage to his life.
The Scene - Probably my favorite in the collection. The characters are so well thought-out, the dialogue is natural, the stakes are so high, the scenes are incredibly intense and uncomfortable. I would love to work on a play like this some day. I just kind of wish it wasn't about actors on some level because I feel like actors love plays about actors, but actual audience members don't really care how complicated our lives can be sometimes maybe. Still. Great play.
Six Years - Much like looking at a pretentious author photo on a book jacket can color a novel, pretentious stage directions can ruin a play. There was a lot of reading italics and thinking, "Who does this guy think he is?" I'm not a big fan of melodrama either. Even when people are experiencing extreme emotion, they talk like normal people.
Neon Mirage - This was the worst in the collection, I think. It was a collaboration by a bunch of playwrights all with Las Vegas as the central focus. Some were stronger than others. I liked the one with Sigfried and Roy's tigers. I'd like to play a tiger some day. Rar! Overall though, it was just lumpy and disconnected and uninteresting and cliche.
Three guys and a Brenda - I wish it were longer. There's a lot of drag king talent in the world, especially in Boston, and very few opportunities for it in performance. That should change.
Natural Selection - This play has potential. I could see it being produced. There are some pretty high stakes scenes in it and though I get the statement the playwright is trying to make with regard to culture and the technology age, I feel like maybe there could be a more subtle way of getting it across. Though maybe that was the point. Some neat characters in this and not completely flat, though in the wrong hands they could easily come across as cartoon stereotypes.
Low - This play really effected me. I think this is one of those plays where the piece is entirely dependent on the performer (it's a one woman show) as well as the playwright (who is also the performer). I would love to see what Rha Goddess does with this piece. It's terrifying how easily a young person can become homeless and on the street due to lack of proper medication and diagnosis of mental disability. Absolutely terrifying and heartbreaking.
Act a Lady - Meh, I didn't get cast. No, no, it's fine. It's certainly not a play out of this collection that I would read and think, yes! I want to do THAT play. But maybe my actor-centered brain isn't realizing what is capable in production. I'll go see it.
Sovereignty - Rolin Jones writes for Weeds. This play is awesome and too short and weird and violent and great. I want to read his full length stuff immediately.
Listeners - Meh. Is Bush paranoia already dated? Kind of.
Hotel Cassiopeia - I didn't know who Joseph Cornell was and had to look him up. This play made much more sense after I did that. I think he would be pleased to have such a wacky, thoughtful homage to his life.
The Scene - Probably my favorite in the collection. The characters are so well thought-out, the dialogue is natural, the stakes are so high, the scenes are incredibly intense and uncomfortable. I would love to work on a play like this some day. I just kind of wish it wasn't about actors on some level because I feel like actors love plays about actors, but actual audience members don't really care how complicated our lives can be sometimes maybe. Still. Great play.
Six Years - Much like looking at a pretentious author photo on a book jacket can color a novel, pretentious stage directions can ruin a play. There was a lot of reading italics and thinking, "Who does this guy think he is?" I'm not a big fan of melodrama either. Even when people are experiencing extreme emotion, they talk like normal people.
Neon Mirage - This was the worst in the collection, I think. It was a collaboration by a bunch of playwrights all with Las Vegas as the central focus. Some were stronger than others. I liked the one with Sigfried and Roy's tigers. I'd like to play a tiger some day. Rar! Overall though, it was just lumpy and disconnected and uninteresting and cliche.
May 20, 2015
I'd rate the collection a 2.5. Some were great, other were pretty bad. I read Three Guys and a Brenda, Low, Soverignty, Listeners
Hotel Cassiopeia, The Scene and Six Years. I thought Low, The Scene and Six Years were pretty great plays and really enjoyed reading them. The others ranged from really bad to moderate. Hotel Cassiopeia is worth mentioning and reading but wasn't my favourite to read, I think I would enjoy it more on a stage. It's a play that needs a stage to be complete - as a text it doesn't stand as well in my opinion. Overall it is a hit and miss collection.
Hotel Cassiopeia, The Scene and Six Years. I thought Low, The Scene and Six Years were pretty great plays and really enjoyed reading them. The others ranged from really bad to moderate. Hotel Cassiopeia is worth mentioning and reading but wasn't my favourite to read, I think I would enjoy it more on a stage. It's a play that needs a stage to be complete - as a text it doesn't stand as well in my opinion. Overall it is a hit and miss collection.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews