I'm in week five of the 52 Plays by Women challenge, this week I read a breathtaking play by Caridad Svich called USHUAIA BLUE.
I came upon Svich's play as both her play, and mine play BURST, were named semi-finalists in the 2019 MACH33: The Caltech/Pasadena Playhouse Festival of New Science-Driven Plays. I was floored to see the amazing plays and playwrights who also made the semi-finalist list. Naturally I ran over to the New Play Exchange and added as many as I could to my reading list.
And while BURST made it only to the semi-finals, USHUAIA BLUE made it all the way to the finalist list for the festival! I'll be keeping my fingers crossed it's ultimately selected. It was haunting and lovely, a play inspired by science and nature, but driven by its characters and their language of poetry. It's a play that I'll have on my mind for quite a while… Here's my full recommendation from the New Play Exchange:
A deeply poetic and beautiful play. The world Svich creates drips with such rich imagery, just reading it off the page dozens of fantastic stage pictures come into my head. I was so enthralled by the characters, and the use of time, memory, and dream. This play offers so much theatricality and spectacle I can just imagine designers leaping at the chance to bring it to life. Incredibly well done, highly recommend reading and producing USHUAIA BLUE.
Happy Monday! And for all of you out there participating in the 52 Plays by Women challenge, happy reading and watching!