←Recommendations of I'll Be Here

Philip's 6th show in the series bends the concept of reality and in doing so once again shows that Dan and Clyde aren't done conversing yet. The beautiful discoveries, memories, and story knows no bounds. Yet throughout this very real feeling show, Philip has cleverly put in a moment of dread that hangs throughout (the bottle). While the dialogue continues forward, as an audience member.

The poetic ending leaves comfortable in knowing the full intention of the Dan's spiritual moment with his father.

A lovely short piece about grief. Getting to have that conversation we all long for and rarely have with our parents is played out here to sweet effect. Also, lovely to see sobriety and queerness woven in without fuss, just as part of a greater narrative in a father/son relationship.

A charm-your-socks-off short play about a father and son reckoning. I'LL BE THERE is as deep as it is clever and makes the most of its woodsy location. The insights that Philip Middleton Williams reaps are the kind that come with time. I love the central metaphor, how a favorite bird-watching spot in the forest draws Dan to the spirit of his father Clyde. The talk between the living and the lived is just right and the sacred hole of their communion is perfectly placed as the past gets put to rest and put to sweet rumination.

I'LL BE HERE by Philip Middleton Williams is a beautiful play about love and forgiveness. Dan returns with his father, Clyde, to the woods where they bird watched when he was a child. What follows is an exchange that explores catharsis, blame, forgiveness, love, understanding and immortality. There is a deep truth to this play about perspective and peace. It's a story that shows us that strength is not an absence of weakness, but the fallout of survival.

PHILIP MIDDLETON WILLIAMS’ play reminded me of when I visited my father’s gravesite and spoke with him, as if he were really listening and talking back. The connection between a father and his son can be strong and enduring. “I‘ll Be Here” is a sweet play of the love, understanding, forgiveness, and gratitude we can feel from the bond of a parent and child, even after the parent has died. Bravo!

DNA stays .. it is the eternal link between a parent and their child. In this beautiful exchange between the ghost of a departed father and his son, we experience the power of the cathartic release of the past and a peace in knowing that love endures.

A beautiful play that explores death and loss from a quiet, serene place, and, in doing so, achieves a truthful glimpse at this father/son duo and the many like them. Could be especially lovely with the right lighting and sound design.

Philip Middleton Williams explores every facet of this father-son relationship, and showcases the things we wish to say/do for our family. The theme of loss and the bitterness that comes with it is alleviated by the wealth of emotion Williams has displayed within their relationship. A thoughtful and poignant exchange of words and emotion.

I read this right after it was posted but needed a couple days to sit with it. Because it's a play about saying the things we might not or didn't get to say to people we love, people who shaped us, you can't help but reflect on those people in your own life. Williams fills this play with lovely details that show us a full life and relationship between father and son. The touches are elegant and moving. I'd share a mint julep with these guys any day but want them to have just one more with each other.

If anyone has lost a parent (or both), the co-mingling feelings of loss, sadness, anger, relief, happiness in the memories... all resonate and linger for years after. William's "I'll Be Here," simultaneously heartbreakingly sad and joyously hopeful, absolutely nails the on-going conversations we have with our dead parents, and does it with touching truth. It will gut you, move you, and make you cry whether or not you've lost a parent. Beautiful.