Introducing Script Reviews

As a dramaturg, I read a lot of scripts. It’s what I have to do. It’s what I love to do. Besides championing new/unpublished scripts, I want to start writing reviews for established/published scripts. These script reviews will give a brief summary, praise and critique, recommendations of where it could best be performed (educational, community, or professional theatre), and a rating (in a five-star system). The five-star system is subjective, but that doesn’t mean that it shouldn’t be taken seriously.

☆ = This script has flaws, and I won’t read it again.
☆☆ = It is a well-written script, but not to my taste.
☆☆☆ = I would read this again and again and again.
☆☆☆☆ = I need to see this script performed on stage.
☆☆☆☆☆ = I need to be part of a production of this script.

The reviews will be posted at the end of each month. I’ll also have special posts at the end of January, April, July, and October featuring the scripts from the DPS Book Club. Below is the first example review from one of my favorite scripts, Steel Magnolias.

Steel Magnolias by Robert Harling

Brief Summary: Based on real experiences from playwright Robert Harling’s life, Steel Magnolias is a story about six women becoming a family in a southern beauty salon. The script takes place in the town of Chinquapin, Louisiana (Natchitoches, Louisiana in real life) in the 1980s. Truvy, Annelle, Ouiser, Clairee, M’Lynn, and Shelby are relatable and genuine people you might know from your own hometown. You will laugh and cry and laugh through the tears.

Praise/Critique: Growing up in the south gives me a different kind of connection to this play than those who didn’t. I love the inclusion of southern quirks and charms written into the play. The reason that I love this play so much though isn’t its southern charm. I love that this play focuses so strongly on the idea of birth and chosen family. This group of women aren’t blood-related but are about as strong of a family as you could imagine.

Recommendations: This script would be great for educational, community, or professional theatre. A huge positive for this play is that it is a unit set, making it perfectly adaptable for any size and budget theatre! Any theatre that produces Steel Magnolias should be conscientious of Shelby’s disability. If possible, it’s recommended to have someone with diabetes play the role of Shelby or at the very least come in as a rehearsal consultant.

Rating: ✩✩✩✩✩

Check your Local Library or Amazon for Availability

MAY REVIEWS COMING SOON

I look forward to sharing these reviews with you monthly. I can’t promise how many scripts will be featured in each review post, but I can promise that new script reviews will be posted during the last week of every month. If you have any suggestions for scripts I should review or elements I should add to my reviews, please reach out. I’m always working to improve and write the most useful information for you!