February 20, 1994 By John Quinn Publication: Variety
He has kept it absorbing and funny throughout, with dialogue in the everyday mode.
Simonian’s work is unusually good for a first effort, worthy of production beyond little theater, possibly the basis also for a telefilm or motion picture.
REVIEWS: IN PERFORMANCE; THEATER
March 20, 1995 By D.J.R. Bruckner Publication: The New York Times
The Funny Side of Death, With an Explosive Finale...this is an impressive debut, memorably presented.
May 2, 2006 By ROBERT TRUSSELL Publication: The Kansas City Star
This comedy is by turns bawdy, witty and, in its own bizarre way, compassionate. "Next of Kin" may not be for all tastes, but that's what makes it good. The play deserves a wide audience and with a few productions around the country, it just might find one. More
SINS OF THE FATHER: A GROWN-UP RON SIMONIAN STILL KNOWS HOW TO PLAY.
May 4, 2006 By ALAN SCHERSTUHL Publication: Pitch Weekly
Simonian wrote work that made audiences feel more in one scene than they might in entire plays.
What landed him on the Unicorn stage (and, ultimately, off Broadway) is his exceptional scene-craft. He can sneak in a sucker-punch at any moment. His clever miscues encourage us to assume one thing while he whets something worse. And he generates true suspense as he builds from the everyday to the one-day-in-hell. But they're also kind of moving. These scenes are savagely funny.
DESERT HOLIDAY
SIMONIAN TAKES A BREAK FROM HIS IMAGE WITH 'DESERT HOLIDAY' WESTPORT COFFEEHOUSE SHOW VEERS AWAY FROM URBAN VIOLENCE THEMES.
July 12, 1998 By ROBERT TRUSSELL Publication: The Kansas City Star
``It's about love, about people searching for a connection. It's one of his better plays, as a whole. It's savagely funny but poignant. '' More
'HOLIDAY' A ROAD TRIP WORTH TAKING
January 22, 2001 By DEREK DONOVAN Publication: The Kansas City Star
Ron Simonian's "Slight Defect, A Desert Holiday," is a rare, if raunchy, delight. It's a stage comedy that balances absurdity with plausibility, nonsense with profundity, and the spiritual with the mundane. Playwright Simonian has found a convincing, cohesive rhythm in this work, which stands as one of the most successful original plays seen at the Unicorn. More
LIQUID MORALITY
ONE-ACT TRIPTYCH
October 30, 2008 By ALAN SCHERSTUHL Publication: Pitch Weekly
There are belly laughs, and there are underbelly laughs; in hysterical one-acts such as "The Sting of Love" (about men gabbing in a holding cell after being busted for solicitation) or "Daily Grind" (about the nexus of business and politics backstage at a strip joint), Simonian offers both by the heap.
LIQUID MORALITY
June 10, 2010 Publication: Seattle Weekly
Simonian...grapples with topics that don’t usually arise in polite conversation–homicide and sex crimes, for example–and doesn’t hesitate to make us laugh at them. The production (the Seattle debut of Simonian’s work) deftly combines powerful acting with witty content; where artists often overdo wit, these performers shine.
December 3, 1995 By JOHN QUINN Publication: Variety
The play scores as topical and timely, as well as outright funny.
'ARMS AND LEGS' BLUDGEONS UNICORN AUDIENCE - ACTING IS STRONG, BUT MESSAGE IS OBVIOUS; THERE ARE NO NEW TWISTS.
November 3, 1995 By ROBERT TRUSSELL Publication: The Kansas City Star
Like Simonian's earlier play, ``Thanatos,'' this one deals with American attitudes about violence in a quirky style that balances comedy and horror in roughly equal parts. More
AT THE FEET OF DOVES
'DOVE' IS ENGROSSING BUT ANNOYING SHADES OF TARANTINO AREN'T FILLING ENOUGH IN NEW SIMONIAN PLAY.
October 28, 1996 By ROBERT TRUSSELL Publication: The Kansas City Star
Just when you're ready to dismiss ``At the Feet of Doves'' as a derivative pastiche of movie clichés and adolescent fantasies, Simonian surprises you with an original insight or a unique twist.
Simonian remains a promising playwright... More
VERSATILE TO THE MAX T. MAX GRAHAM MAY BE BEST-KNOWN AS A DINNER-THEATER ACTOR, BUT NOW HE'S VENTURING INTO DARK TERRITORY
October 28, 1996 By ROBERT TRUSSELL Publication: Kansas City Star
The play is ``At the Feet of Doves,'' a grisly comedy by local writer Ron Simonian about two hit men who have wide-ranging philosophical discussions as they bury their most recent victim in the woods.
``His stuff is pretty mad, pretty dark and very funny,'' Graham said. ``Somebody said - maybe it was me - that 'At the Feet of Doves' is 'Pulp Fiction' meets 'Waiting for Godot. ' '' One of Graham's first movie appearances was as the manager of a pencil factory in Lynch's bizarre, black-and-white ``Eraserhead. '' And Graham said Simonian's play reminds him of the odd vision exhibited by Lynch, the creator of ``Twin Peaks. '' More
ZONE 3
IN DEATH, CELEBRITIES LIVE ON, GOVERNMENT HELPS RON SIMONIAN'S 'ZONE 3' LOOKS AT NATION'S NEED TO KEEP ICONS ALIVE
April 24, 1998 By ROBERT TRUSSELL Publication: The Kansas City Star
Cynthia Levin, the Unicorn's producing artistic director, said she asked Simonian to write a new play after she couldn't find a worthy submission in the theater company's annual play-writing competition. ``It seems to me that Ron is in a maturation stage and he's gaining and growing, and this play, I think, reflects a little of that. '' More
'ZONE 3' REFRESHING, CYNICAL AND ABSURD
April 26, 1998 By ROBERT TRUSSELL Publication: The Kansas City Star
Superior performances and crisp direction get the most out of ``Zone 3,'' an absurdist satire from Ron Simonian. This two-act effort is officially billed as a ``dark comedy'' and is, indeed, often very funny.
… this is a refreshing burst of creativity from the unpredictable playwright. More
BAGHEADS
AMERICAN HEARTLAND TO OFFER ROCK, COMEDY AND MYSTERY - 'BUDDY HOLLY STORY,' 'PLAY IT
AGAIN, SAM' AMONG 1995-96 PLAYS.
April 9, 1995 By ROBERT TRUSSELL Publication: The Kansas City Star
Kansas City playwright's bizarre comedy examines the strange experience of a psychologist whose emotional and sexual needs have assumed a physical form known only to him and eventually lead him into an emotional tangle involving his wife, a paranoid hypochondriac and a talk-show host obsessed with food. More
MATERIAL SHINES; PRODUCTION NEEDS POLISH - `BAGHEADS' FROM WRITER RON SIMONIAN IS SATIRE OF PSYCHOLOGY.
April 18, 1995 By ROBERT TRUSSELL Publication: The Kansas City Star
Ron Simonian's bizarre comedy "Bagheads" deserves a better production than it gets at Quality Hill Playhouse. More
Aug 7, 2008 By ALAN SCHERSTUHL Publication: Pitch Weekly
... it's funny enough — and so bracingly acted — that I was soon howling along, despite some reservations. When Simonian is operating at full power, as he is here, a critic pointing out conceptual weakness is like an ant filibustering a steamroller. More
FOR RON SIMONIAN LIFE IS A PLAY INSPIRED BY LISTENING TO THE 2 A.M. COFFEE CROWD
October 12, 2008 Publication: The Kansas City Star
Among the titles is "The Sting of Love," widely held to be the best of the short plays staged as part of this summer's Actors Equity Showcase at UMKC. More
March 2, 2008 Publication: The Kansas City Star
…dinner theater with an edge. "It's not about gay or straight," he said. "It's about what pulls people together. It's not your normal dinner-theater show. More
June 11, 2009 By ALAN SCHERSTUHL Publication: Pitch Weekly
Tom Moriarty knows how to sell a play: “There’s a drug deal gone wrong, and then it’s just rock and roll from there” is how he describes Desperate Times — Desperate Measures, the first full-length play by Ron Simonian since 2006’s Next of Kin.
REVIEW - 'DESPERATE' WORKS BEST WITH GARRISON, EAST ON STAGE
June 13, 2009 Publication: The Kansas City Star
Simonian is an intuitive writer drawn to the odd characters on the margins of society, where delusions are regularly shattered by harsh reality. His narrative gifts pull us along and his sense of humor is often inspired. More
HOW DOES YOUR GARDEN GROW
ACTORS EQUITY SHOWCASE A HIT AND-MISS COLLECTION OF ONE-ACT PLAYS
August 9, 2009 Publication: The Kansas City Star
..., the best script in the showcase is by Ron Simonian. ...the play is a nicely calibrated piece of writing from a talented and always unpredictable writer. More
GRAB BAG
August 6, 2009 By ALAN SCHERSTUHL Publication: Pitch Weekly
Over six years, the annual Actors Equity Showcase of locally written short plays has grown richer and more unruly. It promises surprises yet has its own traditions. Chief among the latter is the unveiling of a new one-act from Ron Simonian, KC’s champ of low comedy, high concepts and laughs powerful enough to dash inhibitions.
THE SOUL COLLECTOR
UNICORN TO STAGE WORLD PREMIERE OF ‘A DIFFERENT KIND’ OF MUSICAL - UNPREDICTABLE PLAYWRIGHT TO PORTRAY ‘THOSE WHO USE RELIGION AS EXTORTION.’
July 12, 2012 Publication: The Kansas City Star
Simonian, also an actor, will play the central character, a television preacher trying to prepare viewers for the rapture. “It’s a different kind of musical,” he said. “It’s a TV evangelist rock musical. It’s not an antireligion play. It attacks those who use religion as extortion, you might say." More
RON SIMONIAN TAKES LEAP OF FAITH WITH 'THE SOUL COLLECTOR'
December 5, 2012 By STEVE WALKER KCUR 89.3 - NPR
Simonian says of his latest character, "I wanted him to be somebody who could actually be slick enough to get your attention, to get your money, because that's where the scariness comes from - when people are actually good at what they do and can still take you in a bad direction" More
April 2, 2017 By ROBERT TRUSSELL Publication: The Kansas City Star
Two of Kansas City’s best actors turn a new play by Ron Simonian into a memorable satire that engages viewers with bite, humor and gray matter. “Trigger Happy” shows him to be formidable social critic as well as an able dramatist, even as he takes a look at the murky ethics of academia. More
‘TRIGGER HAPPY’ TRIGGERS RIGHT, LEFT WING PHILOSOPHIES
April 07, 2017 By BOB EVANS Publication: K.C. Applauds
A new production at Kansas City’s The Living Room bring a new play by local playwright, Ron Simonian to audiences where life-long friends find themselves locked in and their friendship pulled and tested in “Trigger Happy.” More