←Recommendations of THE WAY IT IS

One of our company's guiding vision statements reads, ‘Provocative theatre. Contemporary playwrights. New works.’ This play encompasses all of that. Donna Hoke has crafted a piece which is simultaneously realistic and surreal - we recognize these characters, this couple, from our own lives, as people we know, people we spend time with. Yasmine, with a caring heart and passion for life, and Cane, with an easygoing attitude and carefree outlook. We spend the play learning and understanding who these people are - separately and together - and are destroyed with them at the end. I cannot recommend it highly enough!

After about 10 pages into THE WAY IT IS, I realized I recognized Cane and Yasmine in several of the people I already know, and could see the brilliance of Donna Hoke's writing talent. Visceral and unapologetic, layered and true to the character, Donna is deserving of all the awards she's won. Excellent read!

With typical Hokian aplomb and precision, THE WAY IT IS upends pre-conceived notions of sexual assault and gender conformity; what’s shocking is how vicious Hoke gets, and how quickly; this tight, tense little piece packs a lot into its 55 pages, leaving one breathless and more than a bit unsettled.

A disturbing piece that I hope to one day see in production! The characters are flawed humans, who could maybe find their better selves in other circumstances, but like many toxic relationships - it can be a hurricane swirling from two directions to create extremely dangerous conditions. I commend Donna Hoke's handling of the subject matter with an empathy and emotional depth that is sure to lead audience and readers alike to question where they may have equally succumbed to patriarchal conditioning.

An unsettling and effective piece that challenges the viewers' assumptions about sexual assault, violence, gender roles, and relationships. Beneath the urgent and at times shocking unfolding narrative and denouement is also a complex exploration of the ways that toxic patriarchy informs our ideas of power and distorts the agency of folks who don't identity as cis-men. Yasmine is an endlessly interesting character because of this exploration--yes, we cringe and gasp at what she does, but it is clear how her twisted sense of what should happen is informed by years of such conditioned/ingrained societal messaging.

THE WAY IT IS is a tightly-paced drama that turns the tables on our preconceived notions of what sexual violence looks like and who can be a victim of it. A challenging and disturbing piece of theatre.

A simple setup hides the startling emotional depth of this play. Two characters with opposing goals and desires, yet still drawn to each other, with no easy way out. Even in their mistakes, you find sympathy in their actions.

I was fortunate to see a staged reading of this piece at the WriteON Festival in Cambridge U.K. Hoke's characters grab you - and don't let go - on this steep ascent and plunge into the unexpected. I so admire the pulsing moments, built to a frenzied accumulation, as if Hoke is tightening a knot and unraveling a relationship, all at once. An absolute arsenal for two actors. Well done!

An extremely disturbing work. Read it a few days ago and still processing it. Re-read it again. Neither character is all that sympathetic and each shows cruel tendencies; one wonders how they made it through eight years together. Still, a very powerful piece that challenges traditional ideas of dominance, sexual tactics, and violence. This would make a hell of a performance with the right actors.

I would love to see a production of this play. Powerful and shocking, this is a well written piece of theatre.