←Recommendations of Paper Towels

“Nothing catches more attention than a mass shooting in this country.” I realized that I was holding my breath as I read, desperate to know how Toño would respond to the pleas of his cousin. Diaz-Marcano ratchets up the tension to what feels like the breaking point, and then mercilessly torques it even harder. This play is a skillful, passionate response to what so many rightfully feel to be a gross injustice. Don’t understand the dumb-struck shock islanders felt post-hurricane as they were presented with the paper towels? The end of this play may help with that.

Oh my God — this play is a freight train! I think I stopped breathing on page two and off it goes from there — Strong and powerful, but with these exquisite little morsels of comedy that release you enough for the tense drama to snare you again and again. Diaz-Marcano packs a conversation over time and space, from personal to universal, imbuing seemingly surface moments with quandary. This operates at a subatomic level — fierce, relevant and accented with gobsmacking poetry. Damn. This is the stuff.

How do we respond collectively and individually to trauma and tragedy, especially when words are not enough? That is a question for everyone, but it's also a question, the play seems to ask, for Puerto Ricans, a people for a long time that have wrestled with the idea of freedom without the United States. Post-Hurricane Maria, the play persuades islanders to consider now is the time for 'reckoning' - but what is the appropriate response when there's so much anger? Paper towels are not enough to clean up the mess, the tears and blood. Read this now.