←Recommendations of AFFINITY LUNCH MINUTES

I really love this play! It's amazing to see what happens when We write OUR stories. This play goes ways deeper than just what's on the surface. It not only tackles allyship for white people but also the complexities of intersectional allyship. I loved that everyone is so flawed and working through how to make sense of what is the best decision to make for themselves and for the good of the other. This is a show that makes you feel icky yet hopeful and I really love that uncomfortable and conflicting feeling.

You know those plays that are like a pressure cooker, where they're really fresh but need some time, heat and steam to come out a perfect meal? This is one of those plays that is super important right now to read but when we (hopefully) see it hit a major stage soon, it will have grown even further in its impact and will bring in all those hungry patrons ready to feast upon how fabulous it is. Truly a wonderful, wonderful play.

This play is gripping, thoughtful, deeply felt, infuriating, and so so hopeful. I couldn’t stop the torrent of tears from coming out when I got to the final scene and Ben’s powerful moment of change. This play is so necessary for so many reasons, and I will be checking frequently to see if and when this incredible play makes it to NYC.

A great many well expressed words have already been written about this outstanding play. I let it sit with me for a few days before writing, because there's so much worthy of praise it's hard to sum up what hit me most. But for me it was that moment in the simple but powerful climax when a character who has long made excuses for himself and others stands up. He knows he has much to lose, and any gains will be hard fought and long term, but he will not continue to leave the 'heavy lifting' to others. Produce this!

I had the pleasure of seeing a virtual reading of AFFINITY LUNCH MINUTES as part of Orlando Shakes Playfest. This play made me laugh, made me think, and made me feel for the characters. In a time when it’s so easy to be divisive and force sides, this play is a nuanced look at the implicit biases and injustices at a predominantly white Quaker school. I genuinely hope to see a full production of this play soon!

Flawlessly utilizing academia as a microcosm of how the White status-quo effortlessly manipulates systems designed for them. The Quaker setting heightens the trope of the well-meaning, but self-involved White progressive-aspiring community.

Malakhow’s most ingenious feat is depicting the enormity of both the school’s inner world and the larger systemic conflicts of our world with only four main characters.

It’s taut and gripping and I couldnt put it down.

Powerful, truthful, heartfelt piece about the persistent microaggressions at play in a private Quaker school where there are only two Black teachers. Tackling systemic racism head-on, Malakhow writes with accuracy, pain and maturity about the complex and unresolved spaces in which the US and its education system find themselves when it comes to true diversity, equity and inclusion.

As a writer's assistant on "Affinity Lunch Minutes" at the O'Neill this summer, I watched Nick's already amazing play reach gorgeous new heights. Malakhow's ability to inject tension in this play through moments of intimate discomfort creates a pressure cooker effect that leaves me constantly on the edge of my seat. Nick writes with a deep empathy for his characters, which, knowing him personally, is rooted in how he treats his collaborators. I urge any producing theatre to consider this play and this writer - his voice should be heard in every theatre in the country!

I thought I hated hearing plays described as "more relevant now than ever," until I finally read one that it actually applies to -- if a theatre company doesn't think it's time to do Affinity Lunch Minutes, they don't have a finger on the pulse of what theatre needs now. Watching a reading of this made me feel unexpected sympathies and a range of new perspectives on race. However, the value of this play is not just that it's timely, but that as these issues develop, the play will become more relevant over time.

Affinity Lunch Minutes is a captivating play that captures the difficult position marginalized teachers are placed in, when having to balance their responsibility to their students, to themselves and their own communities with the expectations of a system that is steeped in white supremacy and hides behind "tradition." The character development and pacing is exceptionally tight and creates a riveting 90 minute play that you don't want to put down. Above all, the way Malakhow treats characters with compassion without justifying or excusing their behavior is masterfully done.