MARK JACKSON

“Anyone familiar with the work of playwright and director Mark Jackson can attest that he’s an unparalleled talent in the Bay Area theater scene, and possibly in the nation at large… God’s Plot is a rousing success… The dialogue mixes archaic and modern language to great comic effect… Well crafted, comprehensible, and wildly entertaining, it’s a fabulous addition to Jackson’s oeuvre.”

EAST BAY EXPRESS

“Each of Jackson's ten characters, played by a compelling cast, is complex, full of foibles and desires… It's a bold and effective choice by Jackson to frame the play through the perspective of Tryal Pore, precisely the kind of person history tends to leave out. When she calls out her parents for pretending to be religious in public, or castigates her lover for failing to treat her in accordance with his lofty ideals, she does so with all the righteous force of an underdog giving history's fat cats their long-due comeuppance.” 

SF WEEKLY

“Playwright/director Mark Jackson has made his name as a first-class theatrical provocateur. Gutsy showmanship, brainy literary instincts and laser-sharp satire mark his canon... God's Plot, in its world premiere at Shotgun Players, is no exception… Jackson's portrait of life in the colony is gripping… This provocative piece grapples with a tangle of issues, from the love of spectacle that dominates both theater and religion and narcissism of the artist to the price paid for heroism in a cowardly time. But perhaps the most potent theme is the long and storied history of protest in this country… The palpable sense of patriotism generated in the play's closing moments leaves a lump in your throat.” 

SAN JOSE MERCURY NEWS

“Insanely enjoyable… Jackson pokes fun at everyone and everything, which would be a cheap trick, except that he does it with sentences so gorgeous you want to scribble them along the edge of your program… There’s a sense of honor in the very people and institutions Jackson satirizes. His affection for theater and truly, for America, is obvious and uplifting. It’s rare to find a production that offers so much substance and Shotgun Players, which closes the 2011 season with God’s Plot, can march into the new year triumphant.”

BERKELEYSIDE.COM

“A good part of the achievement of director Jackson and his generally muscular cast is making a complex play of enduring ideas and conflicts look so effortless and fun.”

SAN FRANCISCO BAY GUARDIAN

“God's Plot is a complex yet seemingly effortless hybrid. Nods to Shakespeare, pokes at theatrical process (and vanity) comfortably mingle with critiques of Puritan society and allusions to today's moral conundrums. It's a largely comic evening of serious ideas… This crisply staged Plot is an adventuresome delight.”

VARIETY

“Colonial American history has gotten a lot more personal, tuneful and much more entertaining with the opening of Mark Jackson's God's Plot at Ashby Stage… His tangy blend of early American theater, religious sectarianism, rebellion, hypocrisy and exploitation is almost irresistibly enlightening.”

SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE