GROVES OF ACADEME
Set in the cramped office of an assistant professor of English at a prestigious university, a quirky undergraduate who asks to be admitted to an honors seminar on comedy spins humor into serious business regarding relationships and life.
"Two beautifully observed characters who reach across a generation gap with altogether intriguing results. Its theme is the nature of success in a materialistic world. By his [one-act] play's end, Stein has provided a definition through dramatic events that are not only spiritually satisfying, but emotionally moving." – Louisville Courier-Journal
"Stein's writing is so truthful that, when the two part at the semester's end…they give you more enjoyment in 30 minutes than some plays do in two hours."
– Washington Post
GHOST DANCE
Loosely based on actual events from 1891, a young woman arrives in South Dakota amidst the sensational trial of a Sioux Indian for the murder of a U.S. Army officer. In the course of her increasing involvement in the defense of the Indian, the young woman finds herself falling in love with her personal evocation of the man he murdered.
"This ambitious new play ... touches upon issues of race, gender and the quicksilver nature of identity in an epic treatment of turn-of-the-century American history... The sweep of the play ... has the reach of greatness in it. A vast tapestry of romance, politics and personal sorrow, Ghost Dance will not soon be forgotten." -- Sacramento Bee
"Ghost Dance, the new show at River Stage is one of the best evenings of drama I've encountered all year in the Sacramento region. Possibly even THE best."
-- Jeff Hudson, Capital Public Radio, Sacremento