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DOUBLEWIDE by Stephen Spotswood

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Recommendations

Recommendations

  • Donna Gordon:
    22 Nov. 2023
    “ "Doublewide" has a tone of acceptance but not resignation (think "Our Town") There's a sweetness in this family that denies this play the critical spirit it could reveal. Yes, it is a commentary on the social strata that might keep this family in a double wide regardless of their hard work. But the love and care in the family keeps them from bitterness. The writing is witty and realistic and flowed beautifully. ”
  • Cheryl Bear:
    30 Jan. 2021
    “ A powerful, moving play about the American dream and the struggle to spend this one life well. Excellent work. ”
  • Bridget Grace Sheaff:
    2 Jul. 2020
    “ Everything that has been said here in the recommendations is spot on. I recognized a life I don't often get to see depicted onstage in this piece. As a born and raised Midwesterner, I was so relieved to read something that didn't pander, didn't judge, but with compassion and gentleness asks it's audience and it's characters to take a breath together and assume the best of their neighbors.
    Add this to your next season. ”
  • Tony Caselli:
    6 Jul. 2017
    “ This play SO cleanly gets to the heart of what it's like to live in so much of rural America. We're part of the Rolling World Premiere here at Williamston Theatre because this gorgeous play depicts the lives of so many people in our state. A play about wanting more, and wanting to GIVE more, that says "Life is hard. We make it harder more than we should, but there's always room for love, and hope." Sweet, funny, honest - people need to see this play. ”
  • National New Play Network:
    5 May. 2017
    “ Doublewide by Stephen Spotswood received a National New Play Network Rolling World Premiere. The partnering NNPN Member Theaters were Florida Repertory Theatre (Fort Myers), Florida Studio Theatre (Sarasota), Vermont Stage (Burlington), and Williamston Theatre (MI). ”
  • Jason Parrish:
    25 Jan. 2017
    “ Florida Rep chose this play to be read as part of our '16 PlayLab Festival, soon after a premiere. I cannot say enough good about this play. It is an important story for this moment in American history and speaks to the struggles so many people are dealing. It could be described as an issue play, but it isn't at all. It is a moving family story about giving your children more than you had and leaving the world a better place than you found it. It has a powerfully hopeful message and the characters remain positive against terrible odds. ”
  • Scott Sickles:
    24 Jan. 2016
    “ I confess: on several occasions I have described the entire plot of this play to people and each time I did, I cried. Doublewide is a profoundly moving, hysterically funny, sometimes brilliantly random, edge-of-your-seat suspenseful family story that occasionally makes you say "damn..." out loud.

    Don't be fooled by the title. This is not a Killer-Joe-style white-trash-living-in-the-outskirts-of-the-underbelly-of-society yarn. Doublewide is an honest, unpretentious look at hard-working decent working-class folk striving for a better life. Marital, multi-generational, and societal dynamics seamlessly blend in a tapestry of wonderful characters. It's a gem that will split your sides and break your heart. ”
  • Cody Nickell:
    6 Jul. 2015
    “ Having been a part of the selection committee for Gulfshore Playhouse and also an actor in the reading during the Playhouse's festival, I can't say enough about Doublewide. I love this play and these characters. Stephen is exploring character, dramatic action, and plot in subtle and unique ways. I think these characters and their situation and their lovely relationships will reverberate with audiences long after viewing. I encourage theaters to produce this play. ”
  • Jordan Mechano:
    5 Mar. 2015
    “ The biggest little play I've read recently. Such a small story. Small town, small family, regular old troubles that plague all the people we forget to think about. Heartbreakingly domestic and personal. But what a titan of a script! Full rendition of a trailer on stage, multiple locations, effects, set changes, time shifts. It's refreshing to see a playwright writing without fear of purse strings. I'm serious. New plays are usually so cautious! Two actors and a chair. Not this one. This one deserves the biggest stage and the biggest house to tell this little story that it can get. ”