←Recommendations of Welcome to the Family

Welcome to the Family is a worthy addition to the series that follows a non-traditional family over a couple of decades. Will, who came on the scene in a previous episode, takes center stage. He’s anticipating his marriage to P.J. when his biological father and half-brother arrive unexpectedly, and this sends him into a tailspin. His reaction is all too real, but his family – all of his family, especially Josh – help him find his way through his pain. Another excellent family drama.

A play about family and identity. Will and PJ are planning their upcoming wedding when they get an unexpected visit from the father Will has never met and the brother he never knew he had. This is a continuation of playwright Philip Middleton Williams' "All Together" series, but you don't have to be familiar with the earlier plays to understand this one. Few playwrights out there write about gay issues and family issues better than Mr. Williams.

Welcome to a wonderful play that offers new beginnings and a marriage of hope and love. You will want to belong to this family, I know I do, so filled with love, surprise, complexity and wit.

As the great God Sondheim opined about marriage:
"...we'll both of us be losing our identities
I telephoned my analyst about it,
and he said to see him Monday
But by Monday I'll be floating in the Hudson
with the other garbage..."

Expertly fusing a wedding comedy and the merging of families, then throwing in the monkey-wrench of a surprising, ill-timed discovery of one of the grooms' true identity, Williams' has added another welcome chapter to his ever-expanding ALL TOGETHER... series of family dramadies. And what a wonderful family to be welcomed into – warts and all.

Welcome to the Family is a worthy addition to the All Together Universe. While it is a part of a larger narrative, this story remains self contained and wholly satisfying for an audience member who is unfamiliar with the preceding plays! Strong characters and themes of identity and heritage are at the forefront of this bittersweet comedy. "Welcome to the Family" is a delight to read and, I'm doubly sure, a delight to watch. I so hope this makes it to the stages when the stages make it back to us.