This is a beautiful play that I'm proposing to direct for our local community theatre. It was originally commissioned by the Kennedy Center, in partnership with the AARP, back in 1991, also the year of the play's setting. I was the same age as the granddaughter character at that time, and equally concerned about the prospect of war in the Middle East. I remember actively praying that Saddam Hussein would meet our president's deadline to remove his troops from Kuwait, and that several of my teachers were members of the National Guard, all worried that they might be deployed. While the history of this time period isn't the absolute center of the play, it gives it a context that is deeply personal to me. The themes of connection across generations, and of the importance of art and words and voicing emotional truths in order to deal with them, will make for a deeply meaningful experience for the audience as well as cast and crew.
I love the way they talk about death in auch a way that it's more funny than sad. I love the way they face death head-on and don't let the fact that emotions are hard to deal with stop them, at least at the end. I really love how it shows that just one person thinking you are better than you are can lead to you believing it.
This play is stunning, and if I ever got to see it live, I would 100% ball my eyes out.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.