←Recommendations of Cheek By Jowl

Emily McClain sets the stakes high and she sets them quick in this amazing dark comedy. I'm a sucker for this genre anyway so I'm always delighted when I find an amazing one like this. All members of this delightfully dysfunctional family is fantastically written and the drama and conflict was kept at a steady simmer that had me intrigued until the final curtain.

A tense family drama that's full of intrigue and driven by a string of deeply personal betrayals that reaches farther back than is at first apparent. Details of the full and complex backstory are set up early on, creating a sense of mystery, before the questions are ripped open in painful fashion. The history shared by the family feels full and alive, though we only see the end of it. At the same time, McClain carefully doesn't reveal everything, leaving some questions open for speculation, and some secrets to belong to the characters.

Family dysfunction is on full display in McClain’s Cheek by Jowl. High stakes, dark secrets, and betrayal keep the confrontation simmering, then boiling, then spilling over. Roger is a tragic figure, and the harsh criticism and harassment he heaps on Phillip, his writer son, is perhaps what he thinks he deserves. But in the end, Phillip, may have found the key to his own malaise, courtesy of his father.

A confrontational, thought-provoking exploration of family loyalty, love, and the ethics of storytelling. McClain sets the stakes and draws the battle lines early, and drops the bombs of family secrets with well-earned aplomb. Each family member is wonderfully formed to be at perfect odds with the others, resulting in a dysfunctional pressure cooker where we know something is going to get worse, but never quite exactly what or how. When it does, it’s not what we expect. And that’s even better. One of the best endings I’ve come across in a hot minute as well. Wonderful work.

Emily McClain has a knack for strong-willed, witty, and complicated characters that mesh just as much as they but heads. CHEEK BY JOWL is no exception. Perfect disarray of family dynamics, greed, and secrets that is oh so lovely onstage.