←Recommendations of The Nothing That Is Something (formerly Locked In)

Haunting. Would love to see this staged!

It is the Eugene O'Neill Theater Center's pleasure to recommend J. Joseph Cox and their play The Nothing That Is Something as a finalist for our 2020 National Playwrights Conference. This particular work emerged from a highly competitive, anonymous, and multi-tiered selection process to become one of 63 finalists out of more than 1,500 submissions. This enthralling piece galvanized the hearts and theatrical imaginations of our reading teams and is fully championed by our offices. We are honored to put our enthusiastic support behind this writer and their ongoing contributions to the American Theater.

Beautifully done and highly theatrical! Cox's use of a triptych of visual space is very effective, especially as the boundaries between each become fuzzy. The central themes around the definition of life and death, organ donation, family, bereavement, letting go, and being haunted by past events are woven together so intricately and specifically. Adilene is a compelling central character, as is the determined and grieving Sarah. The ramped up stakes at the end of Act 1 feel inevitable, but no less potent, and the surprising revelations about those in the meat locker are poignant, surprising, and affecting.

A truly engaging story that makes us examine the ethical decisions we hope to never have to make ourselves. The Nothing That Is Something is rich with smart dialogue and chilling theatrics.

I got a sneak peak at a first draft of Locked In. This play will blow the lid off everything you thought you knew about organ donation, the threshold between life and death, and the grey area in between. A heavily theatrical and unapologetically disquieting play about medical ethics that asks vital and challenging questions about the mysterious trinity of brain/body/soul that combine to make us who we are.