←Recommendations of Hath Taken Away

A lovely and gentle play full of questions about how we choose to cope with the tragedies in our lives. I love the circular structure of the play, the way things are revealed to us in fragments that slowly add up to reveal who these people are.

I had the opportunity to see Hath Taken Away at The Great Plains Theatre Conference. It’s a master-work—beautiful, rich, moving. Each of the three characters is complex and continually surprising in a play that addresses big questions. I appreciate that he never judges or stereotypes his characters. I loved the structure of the play – it unfolds in a way that feels like opening an intricately wrapped gift. I had the feeling that I was in the hands of a highly intelligent and empathetic playwright.

There is much I love about this play, its ethereal beauty, its exploration of just how cruel and capricious the universe can be, it portrait of three young people forming their own family unit after the grown ups in their lives fail them, but I think most of all I appreciate its nuanced portrayal of the type of characters you rarely see rendered sympathetically in the medium of theatre.

This poignant play is chock full of absolutely beautiful language. Complex and evocative.

Intimate story of three young Christians, struggling with similar questions to the biblical Job: abandonment, where is God right now, why are these events happening to me? I enjoyed the red/white imagery, and the significance of the events occurring over the Easter weekend. Well rendered.

A delicate, imagistic and elegant play, Hath Taken Away addresses questions of sacrifice and choice (specifically women's) in challenging and surprising ways. I'm most impressed by the play's quietly complex structure, and most moved by its vividly sensual portrayal of deeply religious characters.

Beautiful, evocative, and sensitive! This play is like walking into a dream.

This is a beautiful, heartbreaking, and thought-provoking play. I loved it when I saw it at the Great Plains Theatre Conference this year.

I'm always in awe of Juntunen's way with words, but he might have outdone himself this time. Hath Taken Away is a particularly beautiful piece with a very intriguing structure. Surprisingly though provoking read that stays with you long after you're done reading it.

Beautiful, haunting, interesting narrative structure. This play reminded me a bit of the melancholic and mournful tone of "Spoon River Anthology."