THE DIVAS was born as the ten-minute play, SHE'S FABULOUS, at the Boston Theater Marathon of ten-minute plays some 15 years (or so) ago. In that play, two professional actresses "of a certain age" watched as a rival actress played Linda Loman in DEATH OF A SALESMAN, Each believes she should have had the role, and their intermission assessment of her performance goes from praise to excoriation very quickly. In subsequent years at the Marathon, I wrote seven more short plays featuring these two actresses, and now, in 2022, the thematically-connected plays have become THE DIVAS, a full evening of theatre that was partially introduced by The Snarks in New York and more fully realized by the Ridgefield Theatre Barn in Connecticut. In Boston, all the plays were brought to life by the brilliant actresses Bobbie Steinbach and Ellen Colton (pictured here).
SOME CRITICAL RESPONSE FROM THE RIDGEFIELD THEATRE BARN PRODUCTION (2022)
"Ridgefield Theatre Barn has a very, very funny original play on its stage. The company has opened the 2022 season with The Divas, a series of short plays by Jack Neary, all of which revolve around the hilarious relationship between two aging local actors who can’t live with or without each other. Playwright Neary has created a series of shorts well suited to reveal the lengths these characters will go to win, until the time comes when winning is no longer the objective. He is to be congratulated."
Elizabeth Young, the Newtown Bee
"Delightful! Even those whose typecast theater role is audience member doubtless will roll with the theater-knowing humor and backstage dishing that animates all seven one-acts."
Bruce Apar, Broadway World
In the Ridgefield Theater Barn (RTB) presentation of Jack Neary’s series of one-act plays The Divas, you get twice the divas and infinite laughs. The Divas are divine!"
Christine S. Bexley, Ridgefield's HamletHub