Go See Bad Books at Gloucester Stage Co.

To the Editor,

I loved the whole play; I had never, laughed for ninety minutes straight.  The lines; the actors; even the dance numbers between scenes were side-splitting.  The whole evening was funny-hysterical and then somber.

I am talking about Gloucester Stage’s current production of Bad Books.  This one-act play is a showstopper.  And it has just begun a three-week run, closing June 27th.

Written by Sharyn Rothstein, Bad Books was the 2025 winner of the David Goldman Prize for new American Plays, sponsored by the National New Play Network (NNPN).  The prize is designed to support the development and production of innovative new plays.  To date, Bad Books has already enjoyed regional premieres in Florida, Maryland, Michigan, Colorado and now, Massachusetts.

As my friend Bill said that night as we left the theater, “We must never forget those somber words of the German Jewish poet Heinrich Heine: Dort wo man Bücher verbrennt, verbrennt man auch am Ende Menschen. ‘Where they burn books, they will in the end also burn people.’”

Yes…he added, “Behind a joke hides a serious and sometimes disturbing issue asking for attention through humor.”

No… this is not a paid advertisement for Gloucester Stage.  And, yes, the play is a comedy. This letter is simply an invitation for readers to go out this month and enjoy Gloucester Stage at its very best.

Susan Wadia-Ells

Manchester