In performance and in script, My Ocean is a gem of a show. Considered individually, each facet of Nadeem Phillip’s rendition of a bookish twelve-year-old glimmers brightly.

He can show you what it’s like to overflow with wide-eyed wonder at nature.

He can portray the impotent, naive rage of a young boy as he becomes aware of the horror and injustice in the world.

And he nails the raw physicality of a child doubled over in emotional pain.

It’s only as one is walking out, reflecting on what they’ve just experienced, that they begin to realize what a voyage it...

Grey with blackened edges. Mark Hughes’ life reads like a modern reboot mashup of Lost Weekend, Reefer Madness, The River’s Edge and Sleepers. Or maybe Breaking Bad with less horrific murder.

Tragedy + Time Served = Comedy was dramaturged by TJ Dawe, whom Hughes considers his mentor in getting this riveting monologue together. From the opening narration that describes the imperfect social construct that is the corrections and criminal justice system, to Hughes’ willingness to work with the reaction of his audience, this is an experience that few will forget or fail to be moved by.

It’s almost hard to...

Two sisters, Morgan (played by Alexandra Lainfesta) and Maura (Baraka Rahmani) explore their tensions, traumas, and failures in an atmospheric and heart-wrenching performance with a very strong presence of cheesecake. Maura is a university dropout using kickboxing to find her way through a difficult recovery from an eating disorder. Morgan is a successful academic writing a thesis on the Salem witch trials. Exploring their unresolved tensions between one another and with their parents, Lainfesta and Rahmani give a very convincing and touching portrayal of the way that siblings love and hate as only siblings can.

The production makes very strong...