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Critical Praise
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work, please call (510) 548-6476 or send an e-mail to info@maryhwebb13.com
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Tillie Olsen, Writer, on The
God-Hustlers Production:
A brave and dramatic
exploration of the relationship of cults to race and politics in contemporary
America.
Jennifer Blackman Lawson, Poet, on The
God-Hustlers:
The God-Hustlers is truth untamed--relentless,
raw, naked, revealing. It is our hearts--quivering, crying, aching. It is our
souls--smiling, rejoicing, rediscovering. Mary Webb's voice is candid,
piercing, probing, and above all, refreshing. Mary Webb's The
God-Hustlers is truth wrested from all its former hiding places.
J. California Cooper, Writer, on The
God-Hustlers:
Mary Webb is a talented
writer. Her thorough research into this timely subject matter makes this a
very informative study, particularly for those people who are searching for
solace in today's society.
William Largess, Dramaturg, on Playing
for Keeps:
It gives me
extraordinary pleasure to recommend for your most serious consideration Playing
for Keeps, an outstanding new play by Mary H. Webb. Since the time of
Eugene O'Neill, the American family has been a focus of our best playwrights
and Ms. Webb has sensitively and effectively portrayed a complex relationship
while broadening her scope to the difficult issue of the "augmented
family" situation so common in post-war America.
Playing For Keeps works on many levels: as a
portrait of an uneasy relationship between a frustrated and conflicted woman
and her strong, resilient daughter; as an example of how the isolated try to
find a "family" when theirs is absent or unhelpful, and how a tie
of love and respect can outmatch one based solely on a blood relationship; as
a chilling study of the fragility of simple happiness in the face of mental
illness, whether our own or that of a loved one.
Along with her
insightful and natural dialogue and very effective treatment of the children
in her script, I am perhaps most impressed by Ms. Webb's scrupulous avoidance
of using any character as "the villain"; she has even drawn the
less sympathetic character of the mother with enough care and sharply
observed detail to give us an understanding of her own pain, and to hint at
the reasons for her ultimate behavior. Such sensitivity is rare, but you will
find Playing For Keeps permeated by this quality. I strongly
urge you to give it, and Mary H. Webb, your fullest consideration.
Last updated November 26,2006
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