Enjoyed everything from the title to the ending. Thoroughly impressed by Burbano's handling of loss, mortality, intelligence, and connection. Highly, highly recommended.

“Sapience” is a boundlessly ambitious and sharply observed play about the intersections of science, neurodiversity, and the shortcomings of human communication. Burbano creates a compelling protagonist in Elsa, an Autistic primatologist whose struggles to teach an orangutan English are mirrored with her cousin Miri, whose non-speaking Autistic son also struggles to communicate. The final 35 pages are one gut punch after the next, as the metaphorical jungle Elsa creates for herself gradually overtakes the stage—a great challenge for designers. Finally, “Normal is a place to hide” may be one of my favorite lines in a contemporary play.

With the deft touch of an expert dramatist, Burbano explores questions of who we are and what makes us human in a journey that’s both wrenching and compassionate but always entertaining. SAPIENCE offers an empathetic look into the immigrant experience, the experience of being neurodivergent, the experience of facing one's mortality, and through Wookie, the experience of never being understood - one every human person knows all too well. Mostly, this beautiful play is about love…