←Recommendations of END OF PLAY.

As a playwright, you must remember this, when receiving critiques from a play festival or after a reading, the comments may be motivated by hearts full of passion, jealousy, and hate. Philip Middleton Williams skillfully skewers the feedback process and demonstrates why sometimes you really need to take criticism with a large dose of salt. Smart, funny, and so deserving of a spot in any festival.

"End of Play" is an engaging and intellectually stimulating work that will leave audiences pondering the nature of art and interpretation. The humor is sharp and biting, often serving as a means to dissect the pretensions and egos of the theatrical world. Williams' keen insight into the complexities of theater culture makes this a winsome and entertaining piece.

Yup. This is actually a great play to read/perform before any playwright endures a reading and feedback session. The respondents all have their own personal baggage they want to toss into the playwright's pages. This play is quite validating in a way. Playwrights, read this and rejoice that you are not alone. Theatres that offer readings with feedback, read this and learn something!

This short play made me smile. And nod. And groan. We've all gotten feedback like this - well, maybe not QUITE like this. The know-it-all respondents with personal grudges against each other kept me entertained as the poor playwright tried and failed and tried again to get a word in. Thoughts and prayers to this playwright as they struggle to make sense of the feedback received - but no such thoughts and prayers are necessary for Philip Middleton Williams, because his play is stellar.

Hitting all the right notes here, Philip Middleton Williams has a play that needs no rewriting. It's smart and biting the right people in the right places. Nothing drives me crazier than "helpful" feedback where those feeding back tell you they don't want to rewrite your play and then proceed to do just that. It would not surprise me to learn this scenario Williams has penned isn't the God's Honest Truth either. Fun stuff.

When critics say, "I don't mean to re-write your play," be assured that's just what they have in mind, in this case along with displaying their erudition, one-upping each other, and settling old scores. Theater people will recognize the "mileau" and general audiences will have fun with the hints Williams drops as to the play they're dissecting. (It takes place in North Africa during WWII. I'd be shocked--SHOCKED--if you didn't recognize it.) You must remember this, Williams's delightful "End of Play," next time you want an enjoyable read.

Philip Middleton Williams’s truly innovative "End of Play" is 10 minutes of delightfully acerbic and engaging dialogue (and history) among three know-it-all theater “experts” and the author of the play they are discussing. The poor author has been relegated to the role of spectator, in the service of allowing the “experts” to expound in their favorite language: Criticism. A must-read for many reasons.

I love William's biting satire on the pompous and self-indulgent nature that some "experts" at talkbacks take. As a fellow playwright, I really appreciate the absurdity of the situation. The characters are rich and the play is full of surprises. Well done!

PHILIP MIDDLETON WILLIAMS’s ten-minute play is a wonderfully witty spoof of critics saying they don’t want to be prescriptive but cannot help to provide ‘suggestions’, which would change everything about the play. “End of Play” is a delightful piece!

As writers, we've all been there and experienced respondents who are more interested in using their position as a platform to to showcase their knowledge than truly provide effective feedback for the playwright. The characters here are cleverly-drawn, realistic, and get a beautifully witty (and unbeknownst to them) comeuppance at the end with a reveal that is craftily foreshadowed for the observant cinephile, and delightfully surprising for the more casual film fan.