The intricacies of love, personal meaning, and self-reflection seen through the metaphor of a crossword puzzle.

In this riveting one-person show, a professional crossword puzzle constructor builds a custom 15×15 puzzle live on stage — in real time, with nothing but black ink and a giant grid. As each letter and black square appears, a deeply personal story of love, betrayal, heartbreak, and redemption unfolds.
Blending razor-sharp wit, raw emotion, and theatrical innovation, The Crossword Play turns the meticulous rules of crossword construction into a powerful metaphor for the messy rules of the heart. Audiences watch in amazement as the performer simultaneously crafts the puzzle and reveals his own complicated truth — word by word, square by square.
Following its record-breaking Anchorage premiere — which earned 10 BroadwayWorld Anchorage Award nominations and won Best Director (the first one-person show in Alaskan theater history to do so) — this critically acclaimed solo work makes its highly anticipated New York debut.
Part of Xavior Love’s larger passion project, The Maverick Trilogy, The Crossword Play is an unforgettable evening of theater that proves sometimes the most complex puzzles are the ones we create for ourselves.

The Crossword Play (Or Ezmeranda’s Gift) will be playing at The American Theatre For Actors inside the Cullum Theatre, as a part of the Midtown International Theatre Festival, from July 13th- 18th.