as of
late summer 2009 I have started a
Blog
where
I will share thoughts and musings as I navigate
through
my career as well as (hopefully) bits of my written
works in progress
"Write your injuries in dust, your benefits in
marble." ~Benjamin Franklin
~new
post every Thursday afternoon~
Look After
You
(my full-length
playwrighting debut) was part
of The New York International
Fringe Festival
The SoHo Playhouse
August 14th-30th, 2009
produced by
Maieutic Theatre
Works
Official
Press
Release 
Fringe:
Look After You: Focus on the
Positive
"Louise Flory's new play Look After You is a sensitive and touching piece…
The story is intriguing, with several surprising moments. The writing is mainly deft and fearless, with effortless dialogue. This is Flory's first full-length play, and it's an impressive debut- I'll certainly look forward to her future work.
The cast is wonderful, especially Flory in the lead, who shows no hint of self-consciousness over speaking her own words.
A few people have noted to me that it's surprising this piece was accepted into the Fringe, since it's not a campy musical, has no nudity, and isn't a celebrity exposé- it's a real play. I'm glad that it was accepted. Recommended."
Duncan Pflaster
BroadwayWorld.com
"Louise Flory's new play Look After You is a sensitive and touching piece…
The story is intriguing, with several surprising moments. The writing is mainly deft and fearless, with effortless dialogue. This is Flory's first full-length play, and it's an impressive debut- I'll certainly look forward to her future work.
The cast is wonderful, especially Flory in the lead, who shows no hint of self-consciousness over speaking her own words.
A few people have noted to me that it's surprising this piece was accepted into the Fringe, since it's not a campy musical, has no nudity, and isn't a celebrity exposé- it's a real play. I'm glad that it was accepted. Recommended."
Duncan Pflaster
BroadwayWorld.com
SeanRants.com
"Very often, in order to find something expansive, the best approach is to make something very small. I don't know anything about poetry, but I'm pretty sure this is the idea behind Haiku, that if you can express something within a very small structure, it can end up translating into something very meaningful for a lot of people.
Look After You is exactly that.
And always, at the root of the play, is the idea that we can't be sure. Nothing is guaranteed.
Designed as a full-length with no intermission, the show flies by. Louise Flory is on full exhibition here, both as a wickedly smart playwright and as a very generous actress. She's the center of the play, the person everyone else is responding to and bouncing off of, and she does all she can to let each person run the play. In one of the opening scenes with her unbeknownst fiance, I was astonished at how much kindness she approached the characters. It's so easy to be put upon, and he just glows in what could be a really introspective and downer role.
I can't do this lovely play justice in the distracted moments I've stolen this morning. It is a wonderful companion piece to our play, at the same venue, in that it really focuses on the liminal state we exist in, between life and death, and the importance of embracing whatever moments we actually *have*. I would recommend this show without hesitation, I just know people who see it will like it as much as I did."
Sean Williams
Gideon Productions LLC
"Very often, in order to find something expansive, the best approach is to make something very small. I don't know anything about poetry, but I'm pretty sure this is the idea behind Haiku, that if you can express something within a very small structure, it can end up translating into something very meaningful for a lot of people.
Look After You is exactly that.
And always, at the root of the play, is the idea that we can't be sure. Nothing is guaranteed.
Designed as a full-length with no intermission, the show flies by. Louise Flory is on full exhibition here, both as a wickedly smart playwright and as a very generous actress. She's the center of the play, the person everyone else is responding to and bouncing off of, and she does all she can to let each person run the play. In one of the opening scenes with her unbeknownst fiance, I was astonished at how much kindness she approached the characters. It's so easy to be put upon, and he just glows in what could be a really introspective and downer role.
I can't do this lovely play justice in the distracted moments I've stolen this morning. It is a wonderful companion piece to our play, at the same venue, in that it really focuses on the liminal state we exist in, between life and death, and the importance of embracing whatever moments we actually *have*. I would recommend this show without hesitation, I just know people who see it will like it as much as I did."
Sean Williams
Gideon Productions LLC
Theatre Buzz: FRINGE FESTIVAL - Look After
You
"Look After You shows the realistic portrait of a life interrupted by a flash of illness that comes quickly and takes certainty with it.
Flory (wearing her play writing hat) does an excellent job of showing how this is not as black and white as it would appear; this is not simply about a man afraid of committing to a woman who now is living in a limbo state, sometimes remembering things they did, sometimes not, and always living in the shadow of the possibility that she could “re-bleed” any time and die.
By giving Jake an obsession with Sherpas who climb and always come back, Flory simultaneously makes Jake heartbreaking yet hopeful.
Some of the best plays conclude not so much with an ending, but with a beginning, as if what you’ve just watched was the prelude to a life you can now settle back and continue to imagine. Look After You is definitely one of those plays. At the end we’re left with just as many unanswered questions about these characters, their lives, their motives, what will happen next, and how it will all bear out, but at least we now know them all a little better, and we had the opportunity to walk in their shoes for a little while."
Karen Tortora-Lee - Managing Editor
Neighborbeeblog.com
"Look After You shows the realistic portrait of a life interrupted by a flash of illness that comes quickly and takes certainty with it.
Flory (wearing her play writing hat) does an excellent job of showing how this is not as black and white as it would appear; this is not simply about a man afraid of committing to a woman who now is living in a limbo state, sometimes remembering things they did, sometimes not, and always living in the shadow of the possibility that she could “re-bleed” any time and die.
By giving Jake an obsession with Sherpas who climb and always come back, Flory simultaneously makes Jake heartbreaking yet hopeful.
Some of the best plays conclude not so much with an ending, but with a beginning, as if what you’ve just watched was the prelude to a life you can now settle back and continue to imagine. Look After You is definitely one of those plays. At the end we’re left with just as many unanswered questions about these characters, their lives, their motives, what will happen next, and how it will all bear out, but at least we now know them all a little better, and we had the opportunity to walk in their shoes for a little while."
Karen Tortora-Lee - Managing Editor
Neighborbeeblog.com
Fringe
Can Be A Good Thing: MTWorks' Look After
You
On the recommendation of a friend, and due to its overwhelming popularity as the one of the few "real plays" amongst the campy horseshit that Fringe has become, I decided to go see Look After You produced by the up-and-coming new Steppenwolf, MTWorks. The play, by Louise Flory and directed by David Stallings, caused me to be very pleasantly surprised.
Ultimately, Flory had the most difficult role of all, as both actress, playwright, and the focus of the show.
She was able to maintain a light-heartedness that kept the play from being "a movie of the week" (something that I've noticed a couple of reviews saying, which just goes to show that the moment you bring up illness, people's own personal fears come in between the art and the ability to review it properly - this is anything but a Lifetime special) and she truly dove into the part with all of herself."
Katherine Stein
BitchyActress.blogspot.com
On the recommendation of a friend, and due to its overwhelming popularity as the one of the few "real plays" amongst the campy horseshit that Fringe has become, I decided to go see Look After You produced by the up-and-coming new Steppenwolf, MTWorks. The play, by Louise Flory and directed by David Stallings, caused me to be very pleasantly surprised.
Ultimately, Flory had the most difficult role of all, as both actress, playwright, and the focus of the show.
She was able to maintain a light-heartedness that kept the play from being "a movie of the week" (something that I've noticed a couple of reviews saying, which just goes to show that the moment you bring up illness, people's own personal fears come in between the art and the ability to review it properly - this is anything but a Lifetime special) and she truly dove into the part with all of herself."
Katherine Stein
BitchyActress.blogspot.com
Oh a Fringe-ing I
will Go!
"On to Look after You- a very taut psychological drama dealing with the issues of memory loss a photographer suffers from a brain aneurism. This is some very strong writing that reminds us of how much it sucks when you have a "friend" who is "just trying to help". The piece is short, quick, and engaging and I found myself really curious as to what would happen next. Playwright Louise Flory has crafted a very clever narrative that touches on hot button topics like fear of commitment, not following doctor's orders, and independence vrs. Loneliness. She also performs in the piece which is usually not my cup of tea, but I was pleasantly surprised with how well she separated herself as an actor and a playwright. All too often I see playwrights overdoing it. She maintains a very nice balance and deserves to be commended for that."
Michael Roderick
OneProducerintheCity.com
"On to Look after You- a very taut psychological drama dealing with the issues of memory loss a photographer suffers from a brain aneurism. This is some very strong writing that reminds us of how much it sucks when you have a "friend" who is "just trying to help". The piece is short, quick, and engaging and I found myself really curious as to what would happen next. Playwright Louise Flory has crafted a very clever narrative that touches on hot button topics like fear of commitment, not following doctor's orders, and independence vrs. Loneliness. She also performs in the piece which is usually not my cup of tea, but I was pleasantly surprised with how well she separated herself as an actor and a playwright. All too often I see playwrights overdoing it. She maintains a very nice balance and deserves to be commended for that."
Michael Roderick
OneProducerintheCity.com
Just Goes to
Show You &
Show
Showdown
"When you learn early on that the protagonist (played by Louise Flory, also the playwright) has recently survived a brain aneurysm, you might be led to expect a tearjerker of the tv-movie variety. But the playwright isn’t exploitative; her thematic focus is more true-to-life and her writing shows more curiosity than that. The play is really about the shifts that occur in the character’s relationships after her mortality has seeped into everyone’s consciousness. The play does have a sneaking cumulative emotional payoff but it’s delicate and unforced.
[T]he writing is otherwise solid throughout, distinguished especially by a sureness of tone and a keen understanding that believable drama builds incrementally with seemingly small events."
Patrick Lee
ShowShowdown.blogspot.com & JustShowstoGoYou.com
"When you learn early on that the protagonist (played by Louise Flory, also the playwright) has recently survived a brain aneurysm, you might be led to expect a tearjerker of the tv-movie variety. But the playwright isn’t exploitative; her thematic focus is more true-to-life and her writing shows more curiosity than that. The play is really about the shifts that occur in the character’s relationships after her mortality has seeped into everyone’s consciousness. The play does have a sneaking cumulative emotional payoff but it’s delicate and unforced.
[T]he writing is otherwise solid throughout, distinguished especially by a sureness of tone and a keen understanding that believable drama builds incrementally with seemingly small events."
Patrick Lee
ShowShowdown.blogspot.com & JustShowstoGoYou.com
"Sorrow with a Fringe", New York
Post
"sensitively rendered, offering a respite from the campy fare that makes up much of this fest.
Still, the play largely works, thanks to some amusing dialogue and the appealing performance."
Frank Scheck
New York Post
"sensitively rendered, offering a respite from the campy fare that makes up much of this fest.
Still, the play largely works, thanks to some amusing dialogue and the appealing performance."
Frank Scheck
New York Post
TheaterMania.com
"Flory is to be commended for incorporating a great deal of humor into a script dealing with such a serious subject."
Brian Scott Lipton
"Flory is to be commended for incorporating a great deal of humor into a script dealing with such a serious subject."
Brian Scott Lipton
Reflections in the
Light
"Flory’s script stands out because it doesn’t study the illness, or how Hannah’s copes with it, but focuses instead on the relationships between the characters and how the aftermath of the illness affects them, often using humor to keep the tone from becoming too depressing.
How they 'find their way back to their lives' is the crux of this thoughtful work."
Lauren Yarger
"Flory’s script stands out because it doesn’t study the illness, or how Hannah’s copes with it, but focuses instead on the relationships between the characters and how the aftermath of the illness affects them, often using humor to keep the tone from becoming too depressing.
How they 'find their way back to their lives' is the crux of this thoughtful work."
Lauren Yarger
NYTheatre.com
"'People feel fine. They come home. And then they drop dead.' This is what Lucy says to her younger sister, Hannah, who has just recovered from a head injury, in Louise Flory's new thought-provoking drama Look After You, playing at the Soho Playhouse in this year's FringeNYC Festival.
Fear and indecision are the monsters that haunt Jake in this play, but as Jake's all-knowing bartender friend Paul says to him, quite eloquently, 'Pick a life or the world will pick one for you. And most of the time, the world is wrong.'
Like the characters in the play, we can never fully leave the stress of Hannah's situation and it hovers over every scene.
Look After You moves at a steady pace with some great performances and smart dialogue."
Dan Kitrosser
"'People feel fine. They come home. And then they drop dead.' This is what Lucy says to her younger sister, Hannah, who has just recovered from a head injury, in Louise Flory's new thought-provoking drama Look After You, playing at the Soho Playhouse in this year's FringeNYC Festival.
Fear and indecision are the monsters that haunt Jake in this play, but as Jake's all-knowing bartender friend Paul says to him, quite eloquently, 'Pick a life or the world will pick one for you. And most of the time, the world is wrong.'
Like the characters in the play, we can never fully leave the stress of Hannah's situation and it hovers over every scene.
Look After You moves at a steady pace with some great performances and smart dialogue."
Dan Kitrosser