←Recommendations of The Shape of the Unknown

Ah, the hope, the tension, the beer, the fear, and the desire! This play captures the intricate workings of the heart during a difficult time, and makes you realize that patience can be very beautiful. Look to the stars!

Lately, I've been fascinated by the relationship between love and belief, and this play is such a unique exploration of this idea! This is a beautifully written, character-driven short that is simultaneously subtle and sublime. It is specific to this moment in history, yet uniquely universal. All of the details about MUFON added a satisfying amount of specificity that made the world of the play even more vivid and dimensional. The transformation we observe in both characters from the beginning to the end of the piece is incredibly natural. This is a relatable, emotional, funny, nerdy, socially distanced play!

UFOs, nerds, and a gruelingly detailed drop-down menu! It’s like Emily McClain wrote this just for me!

Hark and Laurel are sublimely and breathtakingly funny. The details that comprise the notes of their conversation and contretemps are downright symphonic in scope. Marvelously individuated characters on a night both ordinary and unlike all others during a unique period in history.

This play captures their passion for oddity and the extraordinary, opening their arms wide hoping to find the tiniest connection in an infinity of possibilities that may never come to pass. Like clusters of distant galaxies, SHAPE is beautiful.

In The Shape of the Unknown, Emily McClain is outlining the contours of the human heart. This beautifully crafted play, about two people sitting under the stars looking for UFOs, takes the audience on a quiet emotional journey. McClain employs wit and compassion to explore our needs for answers and connections.

Besides the genius staging of this play — who needs Zoom when you've got an open field? — what I love most about this play is how Hank appears to be a wacko at first but as the play progresses you realize his search for UFOs is really quite grounded and rational. Watching these two characters take the journey from the beginning of the play to the end is a real joy.

Sometimes we just want someone beside us as we wonder about the world and search for answers.

"The Shape of the Unknown" is driven by Emily McClain's skills at creating sympathetic characters, especially her protagonist Hank. Very little seems to be going right for him, yet he perseveres in his hope. Credit McClain for giving Hank a voice to express his hope in what may be for the first time.

I'd love to see this site-specific play in performance, followed by hours of looking into the night skies in wonder.