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Last Exit by Philip Middleton Williams

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Recommendations

  • Adam Richter:
    3 Aug. 2021
    “ Sometimes moving away is not enough to add distance to the end of a relationship. In "Last Exit," Philip Middleton Williams gives us two characters whose breakup is in the past but their baggage is still very much in the present (and omnipresent, for that matter). I loved the way that in a few short pages, Williams gives us years — decades? — of the characters' lives, Each reminiscence, each quip leaves the audience and characters wondering, "Where will they go from here?" — right up to the final line. This is a brilliant relationship drama. Well done! ”
  • Scott Sickles:
    31 Jul. 2021
    “ There’s so much history between these characters in white space on the page, one could go snowblind in the emotion of it all. A break up play is one thing, a post-breakup goodbye play is a different hat trick. Feelings have been around longer: anger faded but still with a bitter aftertaste, love lingering like an old paint job. The characters use reminiscences to establish and infiltrate boundaries, parrying and enticing, saying things they’ve left unspoken too long. Yet, Williams gives them a profound immediacy and a hope that resonates like keys to a new life. ”
  • Robert Weibezahl:
    20 Oct. 2020
    “ The end of a long-term relationship is a kind of death, filled with the grief, nostalgia, recriminations, and subjective memories of good times and bad. In this highly emotional, at times brutally honest, short play, Williams deftly employs his customary humanism and realism as he lays bare a couple’s long-unspoken feelings of love and, sometimes, hate. Intriguingly, this story of moving on to the next chapter of one’s life takes an open-ended twist in its final moments. ”
  • Aaron Leventman:
    24 Sep. 2020
    “ Regardless of your gender identity or sexual orientation, it's hard not to relate with this sensitive and eloquent story of holding on and letting go as it pertains to long-term relationships. How do you reconcile having a history with someone mixed with the need to move on? The characters and situations jump off the page with their authenticity and humanism. The actors and director will relish in the opportunity to bring this play to life. ”
  • Vivian Lermond:
    29 Apr. 2020
    “ LAST EXIT pulls at the heart strings and connects us so much with our own personal break-up experiences. Marvelous realistic tension and dialogue with plenty of subtext for actors! A winner of a play! ”
  • William J. Goodwin:
    11 Jan. 2020
    “ A look at the last moments of a couple who has broken up and is moving on. Or are they? Mr. Williams is able to create a keen tension underneath realistic dialogue so tight you could bounce a quarter off of it. A quiet reflective look at inner turmoil and bad choices. A very "human" play. ”
  • Arianna Rose:
    31 Oct. 2019
    “ Mr. Williams so brilliantly captures the angst of a love affair ending and the pain of packing up our physical belongings and our emotional yearnings. Highly recommended. ”
  • Rachael Carnes:
    25 Jan. 2019
    “ What do we bring with us, and what do we leave behind? How do we divide our memories and store them for the future? Do we stuff our experiences into boxes with labels or do we live with uncertainty and a willingness to hope? Middleton invites us to find ourselves in this seemingly innocuous moment, a moment of heightened discovery and truth. ”
  • Everett Robert:
    24 Jan. 2019
    “ The last exit can be our last chance to stop or the last place before making a new start. That's what we see in this emotional gut wrenching but beautiful play. The Last Exit tells the story of Arnold and Malcolm as they reach the end of their relationship but at the start of a new life. We don't see what happened from meet cute to breaking point (although we hear about it) but we feel the after shocks. An honest look at the way relationships sometimes go. Highly recommended. ”
  • Franky D. Gonzalez:
    24 Jan. 2019
    “ There is so much we don't know, and so much we are given insight into with this play. The magic of LAST EXIT by Philip Middleton Williams is that in the places where we don't have information Philip encourages us to share our empathy, sympathies, and compassion. Love is complicated. Love that has been broken to a point of no return but with the broken ends still wanting to reunite again makes for heartbreak. There is much to be said about this play, but those final moments speak to the heart. We've been there, even when we haven't, we have. ”

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