←Recommendations of A Tree Grows in Longmont

"How long will you be here?" - "As long as I need to be" - That moment was the first of MANY that beautiful moments in this exploration Allen and Philip's relationship that wrenched at my heartstrings. Loss is something we all explore in different ways but here Philip not only explores the events of his relationship he opens himself up through his creativity, creating a 'show and tell' dynamic to the piece. Both characters, their history and the moment they share in this emotionally complex piece is something that is sure to touch an audience, utterly beautiful.

Philip Middleton Williams skillfully crafts a tender recollection that fearlessly confronts challenging realities. True to Williams' signature style, the play boasts masterful storytelling and multi-dimensional characters, captivating the audience throughout. "A Tree Grows in Longmont" is undeniably beautiful and moving. It grants the viewer a unique opportunity, even if only within their imagination, to breathe life into a play they have authored with a lost lover. Such a vulnerable piece. BRAVO.

What's the one lesson everyone tells you when you start writing? "Write what you know." Dang it, Philip Middleton Williams has delivered one of the most brutally intimate pieces of theater I've ever read with A Tree Grows in Longmont. We put ourselves into our work, to be sure, but this is on a whole new level. What a powerful story of love, heartbreak, and the writing process. A must read for gay men of any age, and for anyone who wishes to appreciate Philip Middleton Williams both as the person and the playwright.

I am in awe of playwrights who can draw from vulnerability in loving honesty. This play is special. It shows us that grief, memory, and forgiveness's power exist beyond the page. This play also gutted me. The tenderness of the moment is palpable. This play exemplifies some of the best I've read on NPX. Philip shows mastery of his craft in a way that truly honors love in all forms. Bravo, sir! This play is simply outstanding and I hope I can have the pleasure of seeing on stage one day.

I had the pleasure of being in a zoom production of this play a few years back and it was one of the most touching experiences I've ever had. Philip gives to us a deeply intimate look into the lives of these two individuals who are wildly in love and connected over decades. The heart in this play is so big and generous. Philip has created a play of pure truth that just tugs at the heartstrings and reminds us of what is so important in remembering: the memories we make along the way and how they last a lifetime.

An engaging two-hander, A Tree Grows in Longmont is an intelligent, heart-centered exploration of the questions that remain when the person dearest to us is gone. Not just a memory play, but more of a dialogue with memory, we are invited to witness the tenderness of this the connection and get just a glimpse of the depth of loss. With humor never far away, Williams melds life and art into a masterful play.

I had the pleasure of seeing this play live at the Valdez Theatre Conference 2023, acted beautifully by Jamie Nelson (Philip) and Shawn Eby (Allen). Although the play is a reminiscence, there is an immediacy to the writing. True love knows no boundaries: time, pain, death and the terrible choices those we love can make. As with much of Philip's writing, there is a gentle sweet humanity to the tone, and in watching it, for some reason I was led to think of 1 Corinthians 13:3: 'Love is patient, and kind.... it always protects... always hopes, always perseveres.'

It seems heartbreakingly simple, at first - a man's mournful imagined conversation with his deceased partner. But then that man reveals himself to be a playwright, and casts himself and his lover's ghost as their fictionalized counterparts in an impromptu reading, and Williams reveals he's got something more complex in mind - a meditation on selective memory, and the ways we never say everything we need to say to one another in life, and yet those conversations still linger and continue when we're gone. A lovely pas de deux for two brave actors.

A deeply personal and moving account of a relationship from its romantic beginning through highs and lows to an ending that still leaves the surviving partner with questions. Philip Middleton Williams creates a loving remembrance that doesn’t shy away from difficult truths. As with all of Williams’ plays, “A Tree Grows in Longmont” is expertly structured with multi-dimensional characters. A beautiful theatre experience.

Unflinching, achingly honest, Williams has given the audience a gift. A gift of love - warts and all because that is a true relationship. And a gift of love that transcends the spiritual and the natural world. It’s a remembrance and a reality that memories can be fractured but they do not fade. They continue. And in Middleton’s case, the memory of love still shines.