The Bookstore – 16 January 2026

A look inside the lives of those whom society dubs “real readers”, The Bookstore depicts the tale of four people whose lives center around their voracious love of books. The bookstore where they work contains thousands of stories, including their own life stories. As they gather together to share the precious, vulnerable moments that make up their lives, Carey (Janet Zarish), Abby (Arielle Goldman), Brittany (Ari Derambakhsh), and Spencer (Quentin Chisholm), create a safe haven to hold space for each other’s flaws in addition to celebrating each other’s successes. Despite the absolute brilliance of each character, their books and each other are really all they each have. Highlighting the last year of Carey’s life, The Bookstore contains a desperate plea for the human connection that is forged through doing the work— reading a novel to understand someone else’s life, not merely a text message. The play posits that the authentic connections chronicled through taking the time to truly understand how others see (or have seen) the world around us strengthens our bond to those around us in our actual lives in a very resilient and powerful way.

The set (Jessica Parks) for The Bookstore was very realistic and packed to the gills with novels both old and new. Similarly, the script (Michael Walek) was packed with references that had the audience itching to have read the right books to get the jokes and reveling at the ones they understood. The direction (William Carden) made these characters feel like less of a clique but more like a book club— the monologues that broke the fourth wall made it clear that the audience was a presence in the world of the play— we were the characters’ confidantes, and, as such, friends invited to share their stories rather than watch them. Lighting (Jill Nagle) was at first more isolating in these moments, but grew to encompass more space as the characters grew and expanded their worlds. Each character was stuck in some ways and free in others, creating interesting dilemmas and a semi permeable boundary between them. 

The Bookstore was well stocked with lessons about the importance of curiosity, living life to the fullest, and avoiding isolation, most told through the protagonist, Carey. Carey was a guiding force for the next generation, modeling and imbuing the importance of grace, reading, having fun, and caring for the people in your life. She alludes many times to the friends she lost to the AIDS crisis, and how many did not make it to 30 years old. She sees uplifting Spencer as a form of honoring those lives by making sure that the next generation of gay men lives their lives to their fullest. In the same space, Abby and Brittany are dreaming of having their novels published so that their thoughts can be immortalized and shared with others on a grand scale. For both this is a somewhat isolating task, but seeing how Carey is living provides a beacon of hope and a goal to aspire to that prevents  both from getting seriously depressed. Carey is said to have the knack for finding the right book for people at the right time, but she herself is not an author. It is only fitting that she spends her life creating the companions she wants and holding them close with pride in her heart. 

The Bookstore is a beautiful tale of human companionship and how a spark of curiosity can lead to deep, genuine connection. It has moments of levity and wit, and engages the audience’s curiosity the whole way through. It is intelligent, thought provoking, and touching— in other words, incredibly well written. The actors bring this writing to life with nuance, purpose, and, above all else, love.

I attended this performance on a press pass from Berlin Rosen.