←Recommendations of The Geese of El Carmelo Cemetery

I adore the magic of this play and it so well compliments the very real things the characters are going through. Langley beautifully captures the awkwardness of young love with as much respect as she does the very serious pressures they face. This is a play written for young people as a way of letting them know they are not alone in their struggles and I hope young actors all over get the opportunity to engage with this piece.

A sweet and sad piece whose melancholic atmosphere kept me fully engaged throughout the briskly-paced dialogue and poignantly chosen moments in time. I love the way that Langley plays with time. The toying with chronology definitely provided subtle tension at a few key moments towards the beginning of the piece, assisted in the exploration of grief in the wake of tragedy, and taught us much about Corie and Parker's relationship in a few haunting, potent moments. The two are credible and sympathetic characters, and Langley renders them with the urgency and yearning of late adolescence.

Love the use of birds in this allegorical piece. The tragedies that can occur in teenage romances are hauntingly portrayed. Confusion, inability to commit, desire to please others - all these emotional upheavals are part of the relationship here. Through it all, this is a beautiful statement about love at any age: the unbelievable becomes believable.

Late teenagers have it all stacked against them, including themselves; it's a period where life is felt to the nth degree, one of both transition and waiting, there's arguably no more anxious of a time. Langley's characters use the only dreams they know to try and solve an unforeseeable future, only for it to be thrown into a desperate uncertainty by tragedy. This memory play bleeds into a fever dream, and appealing to that which is most romantic within us, asks we look closer into the moonlight. It is there young audiences may find the purpose of time. And geese.

Hannah's approach to a difficult topic is both sensitive and creative, drawing us into a world that is equal parts beautiful and devastating. She gives life and depth to characters, making us love them even as they shock us.

Hannah Langley has a gift for writing female protagonists who are strong, soft, determined, flawed, funny, scared — human. This play perfectly captures what can happen when a split-second decision alters lives. Great for young adult audiences.