←Recommendations of Through the Eye of a Needle

A powerful story of coping with loss and the dynamics at play when an unexpected gift comes to their door. Powerful and well done.

THROUGH THE EYE OF THE NEEDLE is the Christmas story that rings true every day of the year. But don’t let its farcical moments and holiday spirit fool you. While being a perfect time capsule of a post-9/11 world-the Iraq War, 2008 recession and Occupy Wall Street-the play avoids the era’s politics and instead looks at faith and how we manage loss. Ultimately, the play encourages us to face our grief and through it, find each other. THROUGH THE EYE OF THE NEEDLE offers a perfect storm that provides its characters with an opportunity to do just that.

Charming, heartwarming and gritty. A wealth of family foibles where details and twists are released in unexpected and satisfying ways. A fresh look at our current Middle Eastern crisis.

I just saw a beautiful production of Through the Eye of a Needle at The Road Theatre and it feels like a play that should be produced all over the country for its deep complicated characters and messages of embracing change and acceptance in the face of the worst news a parent can face. Brandli is masterful with this family drama that transcends the average holiday play and does not leave a dry eye in the house.

There is not one wasted word in Brandli's Christmastime story set in a time period and grief that we are just beginning to unpack. Perfectly slated for any part of a theatrical season, THROUGH THE EYE OF A NEEDLE flawlessly sets up a cadre of characters and their conflicts with a ticking clock of a midnight mass. Every one of those conflicts pays off - and not every solution comes wrapped up in a neat bow. Visceral and appropriately moving - it reminds us all that is good about the gifts we never expect to receive.