Picked plays through the 22nd! Get tickets here and read reviews here.

Michael Stahl-David and Donna Hanover

Two student productions of What Didn’t Happen recently completed runs, at Columbia College and Rose Bruford College respectively.

Columbia College

Rose Bruford College

@jonnysilver: Heartfelt, sympathetic, disturbing.

@fireflyinc: Had us up talking of the vicissitudes of acting and life.

@ixla: Thought provoking with very honest acting.

@TheNYGalavant: Crisp, unobtrusive dialogue.

@ChadKaydo: Totally sucked in.

@Jake_Brunger: Very thought-provoking.

@Powhida: Wonderful meta narrative about successful failure.

@michaelelyanow: A moving play. Join the party!

@ABrightMonster: Absolutely fabulous play.

@MoxieStreet: A probing look into the pitfalls every actor faces.

@PaulWinklerNYC: Absolutely terrific.

@roninnewyork: Brilliantly written.

Adam Green: Fiercely intelligent, ineffably sad.

The Brow: Filled with fascinating ideas.

Diana Barth: A compelling production.

F.A.M.E. NYC Magazine: Mature, conscious theatre.

Reviewing the Drama: An interesting look at an actor preparing.

Wolf Entertainment Guide: Credible, low-key observations of character.

Leonard Link: Entertaining and thought-provoking.

Donna Hanover, Michael Stahl-David, and Tom Lipinski

UPDATE: Picked has extended through May 22!

Ben Brantley, New York Times: It is refreshing to see an actor drawn with the subtlety and sympathy that Christopher Shinn brings to his thoughtful new work about a young man teetering on the cusp of stardom. Picked is also better than any play I’ve seen at finding the natural existential anxiety in the frustration and powerlessness of being a movie actor. Impeccably observed.

Scott Brown, New York Magazine: Picked is smart, sinuous work from a playwright who writes with unshowy depth and unforced menace on a challenging subject, the splintering of identity.

Jennifer Farrar, Associated Press: How an earnest young actor deals with huge disappointment is the premise behind Shinn’s thoughtful and humorous new play. Makes sly points about the ironies inherent in the profession of acting and the difficulties of creating a “true” experience in the totally artificial medium of film.

Matthew Murray, Talkin’ Broadway: A powerful character study about how easy it is to accidentally handicap ourselves on the threshold of our greatest triumphs. Picked illuminates humanity’s hunger for acceptance and perfection, and satiation on compromise, with artisan-level accuracy. Genuine and honest.

David Cote, Time Out: Sensitively weird. Shinn territory is a land of bruised souls sharing awkward silences, their subtext and inchoate impulses placed carefully between them. A dramatist who writes from an intensely interior zone.

Oscar E. Moore, Talk Entertainment: A heady, well-written new play. Actors be forewarned: it might send you directly into therapy or over the precipice.

Michael Stahl-David and Liz Stauber; photo by Carol Rosegg

Jason Cassidy, Chico News & Review: Slowly the stories are told and we start to see what lies beneath the surface of the main characters and how their choices and actions and hidden motivations mirror those on the grander stage of the war in Iraq.

Jeremy Votava and Lynda Gizzi Gregerson

Sherilyn Forrester, Tucson Weekly: A short but intense look at the costs of violence, in both its physical and emotional forms. Shinn’s intriguing story moves back and forth in time, blending troubling memories with an uncomfortable present. Wrenching.

Christopher Johnson and Danielle Dryer

There are three ways to avoid paying full price ($65) for Picked:

1) 25% off by entering code EBLG after choosing performance date and time here.

2) The Vineyard’s $20 Rush Policy.

3) For students: $29 advance student tickets, with code STUD entered here once you’ve chosen your desired performance date (limited to two tickets and you MUST present a valid student I.D. when picking up).

Mark Blum, Liz Stauber, Michael Stahl-David, Tom Lipinski, and Donna Hanover.

Photo by Walter McBride for broadwayworld.com

Picked starts previews April 6. To buy discounted tickets, click here.

Picked will star Mark Blum, Donna Hanover, Tom Lipinski, Michael Stahl-David, and Liz Stauber. More details here.

Michael Stahl-David