←Recommendations of Family Visitation (Ten Minute)

It is astounding how much a person can say in twelve pages. “Family Visitation” shows us the people affected by of one of the darkest eras of queer history. What is truly heartbreaking is the way love is depicted in this play— With Randy’s true love being forced to stay hidden in the hallway, while his lover’s family’s superficial love gets to be put on displace in order to maintain appearances. The final moment of the play, depicting Estelle with the teddy bear, reminds us just how much louder actions speak than words. Beautifully done, Paul.

"Family Visitation" is a punch to the gut (and a good history lesson for those who have yet to learn their queer history). The conflict between these two characters is subtle yet has a strong impact, making this piece an uncomfortable experience in the best way possible.

A play with simple props, easy to stage, and which offers tremendous impact. There is inherent conflict in the situation between a dictatorial nurse and the patient's male lover who wants to visit him one last time. What a commentary! It hits us over the head not by blunt force but with a stuffed animal and a biohazard waste can. Economical and efficient dialogue. Bravo, Paul!

FAMILY VISITATION is a heart-breaking look at end of life care and the legality and prejudice surrounding it. And it is done so beautifully, so achingly and with such care. It's hard to imagine the helplessness around a loved one's passing as being capable of getting worse; and then it does. Bravo Paul Donnelly.

Family Visitation serves as tragedy and testament to a time that can't afford to forget. Remembering the then through this small heartbreaking narrative of enforced separation and loss cautions about what is still at stake in the now. As we stand with Randy outside the hospital room, we can imagine this recurring story happening far too many times. And in Estelle, we see the cruelty of the well meaning and the damage they allow or inflict. A brilliant and gutting piece by Paul Donnelly.

A tragedy in 12 pages with two characters & a situation marking the mind of reader & audience member indelibly. Simple to stage yet written with a searing, shuddering depth of justified rage & sorrow, this is a heartbreaker, cutting deep. The helpless, unseen patient doubly a victim of HIV/AIDS & an inflexible regime putting the rights of an uncomprehending family above the love & understanding of a partner. We cling to every precise word & action, willing resolution, in the unequal battle between gatekeeper & agonised lover denied the chance to bring peace to a ravaged soul. Outstanding.

Donnelly’s gut-wrenching short play hearkens back to the darkest early years of the AIDS crisis, when fear, prejudice, ignorance, and conservative moralizing stripped away the legal rights of same-sex partners as their loved ones died. The final moments of the play are devastating, and serve to remind us that no matter how far we have come as a society as a whole, the petty and hateful continue to insert their narrow sanctimony into other people’s private lives. This play should be performed everywhere and often to educate all who have forgotten or are too young to remember.

Wow! Powerful stuff. Donnelly's writing is precise and deep. The dialogue, the characters, the situation, all has the audience invested in this story. The ending is as painful as it can be. Good theatre can do that - cause a sense of pain in one's heart. Highly recommended!

Oh my god, this is a sucker-punch. Produce this. It's so important. How many times has this played out in history? The absolute callousness of the nurse, the impossible goodbye, the mask of "roommates." Incredibly emotionally salient, incredibly well written, and a call to action. Amazing work.

PAUL DONNELLY’s play, “Family Visitation (Ten Minute), is so poignant, and yet, so touching of a true love of the roommate who comes for a final farewell. I felt the helplessness of one who only wanted a quick goodbye, the tragedy of an unforgiving Mother’s wishes, and the hidden agenda of the nurse.