EDEN
“Jennifer Maisel evokes a fascinating millennial dreamscape of urban dread, psychic fragmentation and imperfect human connection. Maisel demonstrates a sure hand and a formidable flair for the mysterious.” Los Angeles Times

EDEN
“GO! Maisel skillfully maneuvers the drama beyond the tolls of the illness; in her conflicted characters, she also illuminates the contemporary woman’s struggle for love and identity.” LA Weekly

BIRDS
“…a beautifully dark fairy tale that explores the everyday, seemingly inconsequential choices we make and how the burden of past spells affect our lives.”  The Examiner

MAD LOVE
“The scene's a stunner and one of many in Jennifer Maisel's Mad Love.”

The Village Voice

@thespeedofjake
“The death of a child is perhaps the worst loss we can imagine, and Maisel is hardly the first writer to examine it.   But she gives us an immediately engaging, tightly woven story, compelling us to connect with three people and the raw wounds death has torn in their lives.” Theatre Ghost

Dark Hours
“Maisel knows how to map the realm of the senses... (She) fully exploits the carnal possibilities.” Chicago Tribune

THE LAST SEDER
"This gentle, comic drama by Jennifer Maisel about a family coming together during a difficult time features simmering tensions that can occur at any time of year.  Ms. Maisel has sketched a touching portrait of an aging family facing enormous change. While inside-Seder information — about the 4 sons, the 10 plagues, Elijah’s cup — is dispensed as freely as macaroons, her play is steeped in universal themes audiences of any affiliation can appreciate." The New York Times

EIGHT NIGHTS

As a physician who practices medicine through a social justice lens, in the context of treating asylum seekers to the U.S. who have fled human rights abuses in their home countries, Eight Nights spoke to me deeply and reminded me of the resilience that human beings are able to exhibit in the face of the greatest atrocities. This is a play about telling one’s untold story and maintaining one’s identity, while simultaneously establishing new roots and beginnings. In the midst of rising xenophobia in the U.S. and anti-immigrant sentiment, it was a great reminder of the importance of embracing those who have made the journey to a new land and continuing to foster the hope that this country has represented to so many for so long.

Dr. Elizabeth Singer

Backstage included Jennifer amongst their “favorite female playwrights” and The Dramatist Magazine named her one of their “Ones to Watch.  She was recently listed by Theatre Nerds as one of 30 Female Playwrights You ShouLd Know.

THERE OR HERE
“…a thought-provoking play that touches on reproductive yearnings, sexual desire, cultural imperialism and more.”  The New York Times

ANIMAL DREAMS/ IMPENETRABLE
“Both showcase Maisel's love of words and her ability to slip poetic language into the language of the everyday… inventive and sophisticated…a provocative piece of expression.”  Backstage West

THE LAST SEDER
“BEST BET! Jennifer Maisel's episodic allegory about the final Passover observance by a clan at the crossroads of dealing with Alzheimer's approaches its tear-jerking aims with delicate precision and punch.”  Los Angeles Times

THE LAST SEDER
“Small, surprising scenes that feel polished to perfection….marked by moments of brilliance.” Washington City Paper.

THE LAST SEDER
“this is what theater is for. It makes you laugh. It makes you cry. It makes you think. It makes you feel. It is a shared experience, with the entire audience coming together emotionally even though they sit in the dark without making eye contact with each other.” Potomac Stage

EIGHT NIGHTS
“I expected poignancy but the powerful twist of utilizing a Holocaust survivor story as a platform for diversity and acceptance was really what got me. The pace of the play and the skill of the actors to transform across time and space carried this Jewish story into a realm of timelessness and acceptance so far beyond the obvious connection to “Hanukkah”. I found it to be an emotional and visceral reminder of what home is and of the Jewish value of welcoming the stranger among us.“

 Beth Weintraub Liberman, audience member

EIGHT NIGHTS

What was incredible to me, is that this play spans 6 decades, sharing with the audience a journey of how family either transcends, or is haunted, by the trauma they experience.  It did an amazing job of addressing issues of injustice related to religion, ethnicity, race, sexual orientation in a very human way. . .it made me think of instances in a way I never had before. And now we know how trauma DOES stay with us on cellular level, IS passed on to offspring, if we do no process and heal it. This is a story for all of us, and we need it now more than ever. 

Laurie Empen

B.A.Theatre Performance

M.S. Child Development