The Refugees (2021)
SYNOPSIS: Who do we let in? This simple question resonates across the entirety of our lives today, ranging in scale from family feuds to geopolitical crises. In The Refugees a jaded queen and her woke children struggle to answer it, each side fiercely opposed over whether their prosperous realm should offer asylum to masses of immigrants displaced by climate change. Set in an imagined world that blends Ancient Greek myth with the realities of today, The Refugees electrifies one of the most urgent issues of our time with humor, humanity, and a passionate appeal to the power of civic engagement
AVAILABLE ON NEW PLAY EXCHANGE
PRODUCTION HISTORY: Adjusted Realists workshop in Charlotte, NC; Adjusted Realists World Premiere at Davidson College (2021); Adjusted Realists NYC Premiere at A.R.T./New York Theatres (2022)
PRESS: "Clever and refreshingly honest...In the mundane brutality of The Refugees, Kaliski lays bare the tangle of history, diplomacy, and politics that separates the Cuban defector from the Honduran border-crosser. Most refugees will have had little to no control over the circumstances that placed them into one category or another. In that way, the fatalist Greeks have something to teach Americans as we nervously stride into the 21st century clinging to our notion of free will and hoping to bend the arc of history toward justice." -Zachary Stewart, Theatermania
"Although Refugees may sound like an earnest, even preachy exercise on paper, Mr. Kaliski — wielding a deft mix of skepticism and whimsy, without getting too flighty or cynical — portrays both the issues at hand and the people divided over them as maddeningly complicated." -Elysa Gardner, The New York Sun
"Movingly clear-sighted...Clytemnestra, in a reflective moment, says that we are 'smart enough to grow, / too stupid to sustain." This pithy observation might strike one as all too true, but it also gestures to only one part of the inextricable anger, pleasure, guilt, despair, and hope of trying to live in ethical relation to others and to the planet that this production captures so well and so impactfully." -John R. Ziegler and Leah Richards, Thinking Theater NYC
AVAILABLE ON NEW PLAY EXCHANGE
PRODUCTION HISTORY: Adjusted Realists workshop in Charlotte, NC; Adjusted Realists World Premiere at Davidson College (2021); Adjusted Realists NYC Premiere at A.R.T./New York Theatres (2022)
PRESS: "Clever and refreshingly honest...In the mundane brutality of The Refugees, Kaliski lays bare the tangle of history, diplomacy, and politics that separates the Cuban defector from the Honduran border-crosser. Most refugees will have had little to no control over the circumstances that placed them into one category or another. In that way, the fatalist Greeks have something to teach Americans as we nervously stride into the 21st century clinging to our notion of free will and hoping to bend the arc of history toward justice." -Zachary Stewart, Theatermania
"Although Refugees may sound like an earnest, even preachy exercise on paper, Mr. Kaliski — wielding a deft mix of skepticism and whimsy, without getting too flighty or cynical — portrays both the issues at hand and the people divided over them as maddeningly complicated." -Elysa Gardner, The New York Sun
"Movingly clear-sighted...Clytemnestra, in a reflective moment, says that we are 'smart enough to grow, / too stupid to sustain." This pithy observation might strike one as all too true, but it also gestures to only one part of the inextricable anger, pleasure, guilt, despair, and hope of trying to live in ethical relation to others and to the planet that this production captures so well and so impactfully." -John R. Ziegler and Leah Richards, Thinking Theater NYC
THE BRIEFLY DEAD (2017)
SYNOPSIS: Good news: you actually can bring the love of your life back from the dead. Bad news: breakfast the next morning is really awkward. When it comes to the unexpected resurrection of his beloved wife Alcestis, King Admetos learns the hard way that the aftermath of a miracle ain't as peachy as we might assume.
A Doll's House, Part 2 for the Ancient Greek theater, The Briefly Dead reinvents a classic play with a sharply contemporary celebration of its powerful heroine returning home to settle the score.
PRODUCTION HISTORY: Resonance Ensemble (Reading), FringeNYC, 59E59 Theaters
A Doll's House, Part 2 for the Ancient Greek theater, The Briefly Dead reinvents a classic play with a sharply contemporary celebration of its powerful heroine returning home to settle the score.
PRODUCTION HISTORY: Resonance Ensemble (Reading), FringeNYC, 59E59 Theaters
GLUTEN! (2015)
SYNOPSIS: Newlyweds Copious Fairchild and Hibiscus Van der Waal are doing everything they can to conceive a child. They’ve moved into a dazzling new apartment that’s free of all the common killers, including plastic, sunlight, and IKEA. They’re seeing the best doctors. They’re even trying sex the new way, but that doesn’t seem to be working out too well. When Copious’ estranged hippie mother and her mysterious companion pay an unexpected visit with a radical proposition, Copious and Hibiscus suddenly face an impossible decision, one that may cure their malady but still kill them in the process. This timely romp exposes demonic glutens in the less obvious culprits of language, parenthood, sexuality, and (of course) God.
PRODUCTION HISTORY: 59E59 Theaters
PRESS: "Wonderfully icky...laughs abound, and the five memorable performances buoy the delightful show...Kaliski’s satire is successful in reminding audiences of what we lose when we protect ourselves from all ailments, unhealthy snacks, and even contact with others. Like its characters, Kaliski hopes we see the benefit of intimacy while exploring the mess of life." -Theatre is Easy
"The play holds the audience’s attention without missing a beat, a nuance, or a single line...It’s about life and living and mortality and concludes with 'I dunno, man, I thought hey, fun while it lasted.' You will love it, hate it, or just be confused. But you definitely should not miss it." -Woman Around Town
PRODUCTION HISTORY: 59E59 Theaters
PRESS: "Wonderfully icky...laughs abound, and the five memorable performances buoy the delightful show...Kaliski’s satire is successful in reminding audiences of what we lose when we protect ourselves from all ailments, unhealthy snacks, and even contact with others. Like its characters, Kaliski hopes we see the benefit of intimacy while exploring the mess of life." -Theatre is Easy
"The play holds the audience’s attention without missing a beat, a nuance, or a single line...It’s about life and living and mortality and concludes with 'I dunno, man, I thought hey, fun while it lasted.' You will love it, hate it, or just be confused. But you definitely should not miss it." -Woman Around Town
West Lethargy (2009)
PUBLISHED IN PLAYS AND PLAYWRIGHTS 2011
Click here for Amazon.com
SYNOPSIS: Old West pioneer lovers hit a roadblock when they collide with two contemporary eccentrics searching for a long lost brother. Does the Empire State Building hold the answers? A whimsical search for the promised lands out there and inside us all.
PRODUCTION HISTORY: 59E59 Theaters (East to Edinburgh Festival), Edinburgh Festival Fringe, New York International Fringe Festival.
PRESS: "The whole point of the New York International Fringe Festival, as far as I am concerned, is to hear new voices, to tune in to new perspectives, to go on journeys you never expected to go on. West Lethargy, written and directed by Stephen Kaliski and produced by Page 121 Productions, exemplifies all of this: it's a play that's full of surprises and defies simple categorization; it's lyrical and it's odd, and it challenges you to appreciate its own strange rhythms as it meanders through an exploration of (among other things) the idea of home, and how it's defined by the notions of staying and leaving." -Martin Denton, NYTheatre.com
“A really interesting, challenging script. Very Ionesco, very Beckett. If Lost and Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf had a baby, it would be this show.” -Andrew and Andrew, Time Out NY
“West Lethargy exudes charm: the performances are energetic and excellent and the script slips in unpretentious philosophies amongst the more colloquial language… Easy, meaningful watching.” -Three Weeks
“A delightful absurdist drama...Engaging performances all round!” -The Stage
“A satisfyingly open-ended play that pulls the audience into the intimacy of a four-man neighbourhood without ever letting them get too comfortable or forget the enormity of what lies beyond our own little microcosms.” -Edinburgh Festivals Magazine
“A wonderful work.” -William Hurt
Click here for Amazon.com
SYNOPSIS: Old West pioneer lovers hit a roadblock when they collide with two contemporary eccentrics searching for a long lost brother. Does the Empire State Building hold the answers? A whimsical search for the promised lands out there and inside us all.
PRODUCTION HISTORY: 59E59 Theaters (East to Edinburgh Festival), Edinburgh Festival Fringe, New York International Fringe Festival.
PRESS: "The whole point of the New York International Fringe Festival, as far as I am concerned, is to hear new voices, to tune in to new perspectives, to go on journeys you never expected to go on. West Lethargy, written and directed by Stephen Kaliski and produced by Page 121 Productions, exemplifies all of this: it's a play that's full of surprises and defies simple categorization; it's lyrical and it's odd, and it challenges you to appreciate its own strange rhythms as it meanders through an exploration of (among other things) the idea of home, and how it's defined by the notions of staying and leaving." -Martin Denton, NYTheatre.com
“A really interesting, challenging script. Very Ionesco, very Beckett. If Lost and Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf had a baby, it would be this show.” -Andrew and Andrew, Time Out NY
“West Lethargy exudes charm: the performances are energetic and excellent and the script slips in unpretentious philosophies amongst the more colloquial language… Easy, meaningful watching.” -Three Weeks
“A delightful absurdist drama...Engaging performances all round!” -The Stage
“A satisfyingly open-ended play that pulls the audience into the intimacy of a four-man neighbourhood without ever letting them get too comfortable or forget the enormity of what lies beyond our own little microcosms.” -Edinburgh Festivals Magazine
“A wonderful work.” -William Hurt
His Minute Hand (2010)
SYNOPSIS: 1984 meets The Handmaid's Tale in this genre-bending tragedy about the decay of friendship and family within a repressive society. With a country at war an authoritarian government decrees that women, as the bearers of future soldiers, are to be kept in confinement. Friends Charles Gawking and Rip Lamplight are officers duty-bound to uphold the law. But as Charles' wife Penelope falls pregnant, the men find themselves in a conflict of conscience and control, forced to choose between loved ones and far-fetched principles.
PRODUCTION HISTORY: South Oxford Space, Hollywood Fringe Festival, 45 Bleecker
PRESS: “Four Stars!” -LA Examiner
“Stunning! A moving new wartime drama with brilliantly written characters. A venerable world premiere.” -LA Theatre Review
PRODUCTION HISTORY: South Oxford Space, Hollywood Fringe Festival, 45 Bleecker
PRESS: “Four Stars!” -LA Examiner
“Stunning! A moving new wartime drama with brilliantly written characters. A venerable world premiere.” -LA Theatre Review
Any May Now (2011)
SYNOPSIS: Set in an alternate America in which adults may choose to learn the month of their death, Any May Now explores how a society increasingly obsessed with its own demise grapples with the paranoia of too much information. It's Agnes' 18th birthday, and she must decide if she wants to know her death month. Her family and friends do not make her choice easy. Her mother wants her to remain ignorant. Her step-father knows his month but suffers from intense cycles of hypochondria because of it. And her boyfriend has responded to his newly learned month with a spiritual awakening, one that challenges Agnes to consider the bright side of a life cleansed of certain surprises. A moving look at the American family with a visceral conceptual twist, Any May Now allows us to see through a bold new lens an injured world desperate for comfort.
PRODUCTION HISTORY: Nicu’s Spoon (Reading), Gi60 Festival (excerpt)
PRODUCTION HISTORY: Nicu’s Spoon (Reading), Gi60 Festival (excerpt)