Some plays aren't fun to read: their power is in performance. These plays work both as literature and as performance pieces. They're as enjoyable to read as they are to watch.

To Gillian on her 37th Birthday by Michael Brady

"You talk to Mommy, don't you? You come out here every night and talk to Mommy. And I'm not supposed to say anything, am I?"

Jacket text:

Michael Brady's beautifully romantic play is about a young widower's mourning and his subsequent emotional rebirth. Gillian's "ghost" is an important character in this piece, as she often appears to her husband to urge him to leave his sorrow behind. To Gillian on her 37th Birthday appeared at the Ensemble Studio Theater where it recieved great critical acclaim, and then moved to Off Broadway to the Circle in the Square Downtown.

"Tender, absorbing, a richer kind of family drama . . . Mr. Brady proves himself a writer of unusual promise."
—Frank Rich, The New York Times

"Gillian offers intelligent talk by attractive characters about a meaningful human issue."
—Richard Hummler, Variety

The play To Gillian . . . has about three lines of dialogue in common with last year's melodramatic soap-opera of a movie adaptation. The writing is lyrical and natural, and the play is a fairly honest look at life after a family member's death.