A great coming of age play. Johnson really captures how awkward middle school can be. I loved how much time he gives to both the students and the teacher in this play. If we didn't have one, we could have all used a Mr. X in our lives. Really well-written characters. Somebody produce this play.

Wow! This play is funny and brutal and tense and beautiful all at once. It is such a specific take on boyhood and friendship and adolescence and public education and the lives of kids today. The Pits is also so formally exciting, never resting on a trope of storytelling or theatricality but rather continuing to find new ways of showing us more about these three characters and this sometimes awful, sometimes exhilarating moment in their lives. This play is spectacular.

What a funny, deeply human, and honest exploration of adolescence and coming of age, and the role friendship and intimacy play in those teen years. As a bonus, there is a lot of incisive content on the state of education in the US and how the socio-cultural and socio-political landscape of our world impacts kids' schooling and lives outside of school. Our two central characters have all of the vulnerability and bravado of adolescence and their interactions are alternatingly touching, hilarious, profane, and heartbreaking. I'm eager to follow the developmental trajectory of the play. I'd love to see it staged!