“Mark Harvey Levine is certainly a heartening find…his plays are smart, humane, funny, and indicate a terrific sense of theatrical craft.”
Martin Denton, NYTheatre.com
“Levine has an unmerciful sense of humor, fueled through a fertile imagination”
Travis Michael Holder, Entertainment Today
“Cabfare For The Common Man” — An Evening of Plays
“Mark Harvey Levine’s one-acts reveal a light touch, a wicked sense of humor and a knack for using paranormal events to cast new light on normal ones…These wacky, seemingly simple short pieces are hilarious on the surface, but full of subtler nuances.”
Neal Weaver, LA Weekly
“The plays are fun, intelligent, warm, witty and funny. They tell stories. Like chance scenes glimpsed from the back of a speeding cab, each captures momentary insights of life and love, each sparkling like a little jewel…”
Nick Crews, Indianapolis Star
“Smartly written…one fun ride”
Lisa Gauthier, Nuvo (Indianapolis)
Mark Harvey Levine’s “Cabfare for the Common Man” is a refreshingly charming and hilarious series of one-acts about relationships and the power of love.
John Belden, Daily Reporter (Indianapolis)
“Aperitivos” — An Evening of Plays
“Uma das melhores peças da temporada” (“One of the best plays of the season”)
Rogerio Waldrigues Galindo, Gazeta do Povo (Brazil)
“Uma inteligente lição de sobrevivência afetiva neste mundo moderno ” (“An intelligent lesson of affecting survival in this modern world”)
Afonso Gentil, Aplauso Brasil (Brazil)
Individual Plays
Note: These plays have mostly been produced in evenings which included works by other authors.
Scripted
“Scripted” is…a single whoppingly fantastic idea for a one-act play”
Alan R. Hall, Classical Voice of North Carolina
“Scripted…is a charming romantic comedy”
Jack Zink, Ft. Lauderdale Sun-Sentinal
“The continually clever Mark Harvey Levine has created another wonderfully entertaining short play…”
Nalea J. Ko, Reviewplays.com
“…Highlights include Scripted…a stylish comedy romp”
Ronald Mangravite, Miami New Times
“While it could hardly be intentional, the better works seem to have been placed in Program A…. Program A kicks off well with Mark Harvey Levine’s Scripted, a tongue-in-cheek look at free will vs. predestination”
Hap Erstein, Palm Beach Post
LA 8 AM
“Mark Harvey Levine’s devastating, sublimely imagined seize-the-day sonata ideal for a post Sept. 11 world.”
Hedy Weiss, Chicago Sun-Times
“transcends its genre—the quirky play in which math and science are used to explain the lives of ordinary people—to cut to the marrow of slacker existence.”
Christopher Piatt, Time Out Chicago
The Rental
“fifteen minutes of sparkling repertee”
Nick Crews, Indianapolis Star
“…my favorite was The Rental, …It’s a clever, heartfelt look at the travails of singleness in America.”
Scott Sandlin, OC Weekly (Orange County, CA)
“…both acts start strongly…From the first [play], Mark Harvey Levine’s The Rental, actors Barb Ross and Michael Taylor Stewart set the bar high.”
John Keenan, Omaha World Herald
“In 10 minutes, Mark Harvey Levine takes his characters through a series of emotional ups-and-downs but it works, and the audience is so fired up by such effortless exchanges that they can’t wait to see the second piece…”
Julien R. Fielding, PerformanceOmaha.com
“Bernie Van De Yacht scores the biggest laughs of the night as a “temporary” boyfriend to McKerrin Kelly’s professional woman in Mark Levine’s The Rental”
Sandra Ross, LA Weekly
“funny and touching”
Roy Sorrels, CultureVulture.net
Surprise
“a lovely little piece of sleight-of-mouth that would be at home in a David Ives collection…a little gem”
Joshua Tanzer, OffOffOff.com (New York)
“Riotously comical is Mark Levine’s Surprise… A nice twist ending and especially enjoyable bitterness on the part of [actress Carolyn] Hennesy make this a humorous high point for the evening.”
Brad Shreiber, Backstage West
“Featuring some wonderfully timed sight gags, snappy dialogue, and a cast that works seamlessly together, Surprise is delightful”
Byrne Harrison, StageBuzz (New York)
“The funniest one was Surprise…”
Jose Ruiz, Entertainment Today
“Charming and funny”
Tracey Sanford, Palm Springs (CA) Desert Sun
“The best of the pieces, Mark Harvey Levine’s Surprise,”…
Carl Hoover, Waco Tribune-Herald (TX)
Cabfare For The Common Man
“In the most inspired one, Cabfare for the Common Man,…”
Miriam Jacobson, LA Weekly
“Brilliant”
Jose Ruiz, Reviewplays.com
“…the writing is crisp, the action is fast-paced… this rollicking, uplifting comedy is the perfect way to end the evening”
Shirle Gottlieb, Long Beach Press-Telegram
Passed Hordes
“My vote for the best piece of the night, though, would be for “Passed Hordes,” an ingenious little charmer by noted Los Angeles one-act playwright Mark Harvey Levine that takes all of about seven minutes to dress down two nerdy wallflowers and turn them into the life of the party. ”
Michael C. Moore, The Sun (Bremerton, Washington)
“Passed Hordes by Mark Harvey Levine is souffle for dessert….Bon Appetit”
Polly Warfield, Backstage West
Superhero
“…both touching and side-splittingly funny. A must-see.”
Geoffrey Long, Inkblots Magazine
” Vital [Theatre] ended the show on a warm and fuzzy note with Superhero. Playwright Mark Harvey Levine was apparently rocketed to earth from the planet Krypton, since his mastery of comic-book dialogue is so complete.”
Charles Battersby, Off-Off Broadway Review
“A touching riff on personal fear”
Wenzel Jones, Backstage West
The Prodigal Cow
“Mark Harvey Levine has written the most surprising and delightful of all these pieces, one in which the Biblical parable of the Prodigal Son is told from a ‘backstage’ perspective”
Joanne Butcher, Miami.com
“A real delight. Totally unexpected, and utterly charming.”
Malcolm Fordham, The Courier Herald (Dublin, GA)
The Kiss
“There’s a touch of Summer and Smoke in this Kiss”
Jonathan Kruk, Putnam County News and Recorder (NY)
“wise and funny…breezy and enjoyable”
Ted Hadley, Buffalo News
Shades
“Just as sweet and original is Shades… a neatly impressionistic take on human relationships.”
Martin Denton, NYTheatre.com
A Case Of Anxiety
“Levine’s “A Case Of Anxiety”… will have you rolling in the aisles…
such a hoot it sends the audience out of control.”
Shirle Gottlieb, Long Beach Press-Telegram
The Remote
“The most impressive story is “The Remote.” Aside from being very funny, the verbal gymnastics as [actors] Reimen and Shelton channel the television take incredible talent
and concentration.”
John Belden, Daily Reporter (Indianapolis)
Howard
“another superb Levine comedy”
Kathleen Kirby, Flint Journal
Shakespeare Lives!
“Comically excellent…fast-paced and improbably silly.”
Kathleen Kirby, Flint Journal
A Walk In The Ocean
“My favorite was “A Walk in the Ocean.”…It was beautifully written — effortlessly so.”
Joan Steinmetz, Kitsap Sun (Washington State)
In The Jar
“For laugh-out-loud comedy, it’s hard to beat the script by Mark Harvey Levine…the audience goes completely wild.”
Shirle Gottlieb, Long Beach Press-Telegram
