Drama Editor JANET EHRLICH COLSON writes... Katrin Arefy’s one-act O Lubvi is an unusual yet all-too relatable “love” story about that spark, that connection, and laughing so hard it hurts at the absurdity of what is or isn’t meant to be. The humor and depth of feeling in the play are palpable along with the default mode of evasive laughter that playwright Katrin Arefy artfully pushes to the limit and beyond. The rhythms are fantastic; even after the laughter dies down – and it does – then it pops up again like that mythical creature that keeps regrowing its cut-off heads. But by then we’ve already turned the corner, edging into a darker, raspier, more dangerous territory. It’s that place where someone’s boundless proclamations of love can be overwhelming. Annoying. Laughable In this world and in this script, people are flawed. They can be mean. They’re beautiful and sad. They say one thing and mean another (omigod, Arefy’s subtext is a trip). But they keep coming back for more. Isn’t that what love’s about? Crushing hard on this play. You’ll see why.
Katrin Arefy’s “Blowing Dandelions,” published in Volume 18, was honored by Series Editor Robert Atwan on the Notable Essays and Literary Nonfiction of 2022 list in The Best American Essays 2023."
Drama Editor JOHN SULLIVAN writes...This short play barrels through its paces like a tricked out Formula 1, twisting and turning through complex linguistic alleys and byways until it is hard to pin where we’ve been and how we arrived at the finish. Identity is a mutable phenomenon here: hence the joke encoded the title. The playwright deftly juggles the language, pace and shape-shifting characters with aplomb and ingenuity—no small accomplishment as the more or less anonymous human cast includes a female Don Quixote and her faithful steed, Rocinante. This piece calls to mind the diabolically funny work of David Ives, especially his collection of shorts, All in the Timing, which also incorporates and current personages like the Trotsky family, Phillip Glass etc. into a similar hyper-speed Gordian Knot of words, actions and amazement. Five stars!