The Reviews Are In For SAMANTHA INSIDE OUT

"Marisa Smith's 'Samantha Inside Out' is a raw slice of real. Truly, explicitly real... Directed expertly by Theresa Rebeck, this show is exactly what's needed right now. Women over 50 speak their minds and with Samantha, in Ms. Heflin's brilliant hands, we get both barrels. This one-hander is breathtaking and seemingly effortless."

READ MORE at Urban Telegraph.

"A SEARING WORLD PREMIERE ABOUT IDENTITY, RAGE AND REINVENTION - Elizabeth Heflin Stars in Marisa Smith’s Bold New One-Woman Play at New Jersey Repertory Company

Unraveling, then revealing. Unraveling, then rebuilding. That’s the basic theme of writer Marisa Smith’s one-woman play, Samantha Inside Out. Elizabeth Heflin commands the stage as Samantha — a woman at her breaking point."

READ MORE at Opening Night Online.

"New Jersey Repertory Company [launched] their exciting 2026 Mainstage Season with the world premiere of Samantha Inside Out by the award-winning playwright, Marisa Smith. This smart, funny, and meaningful one-woman show is adroitly directed by Theresa Rebeck and showcases the acting talents of Elizabeth Heflin."

READ MORE at Broadway World.

December News: Upcoming Production and Publishing!

Marisa's play SAMANTHA INSIDE OUT will receive its world premiere production at NJ Repertory Company this coming February! Tickets available soon at www.njrep.org.

Samantha, a woman of a certain age has had it—with her life, her marriage, modern life, everything. She’s a high school English teacher, mother of grown twins and wife of Eliot, a cruel, pompous philanderer. After a humiliating and violent encounter with her husband, Samantha flees a stultifying Christmas party at the President of the College’s house. She ends up in the host’s teenage daughter’s cluttered room on the third floor. Amid the chaos Samantha reviews the wreckage of her life and reveals her truth and her secrets out loud. By doing so Samantha charts a new course for herself. It’s never too late to start again.

AND... Marisa's THE GIFT OF THE MAGI, A Modern Adaptation of the the O’Henry story, will be published by Broadway Play Publishers in January of 2026.

Broadway Play Publishers also publishes Marisa’s play MAD LOVE.

Theatre Review for SAMANTHA INSIDE OUT

TIMES ARGUS ONLINE: Smith’s script is apt psychologically and both touching and funny without ever making fun of Samantha’s plight. The writing is taut and witty until near the end when things get a little muddy, overwhelmed with just too much going on to be focused. But this is the first-ever reading and it’s not going to take all that much work to make “Samantha Inside Out” an intimate and brilliant comedy. Read more.

Jayne Atkinson starred in the initial staged reading of Marisa Smith’s one-woman comedy, “Samantha Inside Out,” Friday at Shaker Bridge Theatre in White River Junction.