←Recommendations of The Reservoir

My favorite works are often the ones that can make you both laugh and cry - this is a prime example. This beautiful, heartbreaking, authentic, warm-hearted play should speak to anyone who’s ever gotten wisdom from a grandparent or elder. It’s a play about love when it’s hard and the power of our families. And you’ll learn some neuroscience along the way!

What a stunner. The depth and breadth of feeling that was captured in this play was so vast - across time, generations, religions, temperaments, and terrain - that I came up out of the reading startled to have not literally travelled. It was a gift to visit with all of the grandparents in the play, dazzling in their imperfect humanity, and reflect on my own lost four. Congratulations to you, Jake. I hope it has a long, vibrant life in productions around the world.

I treasure this play! The Reservoir is funny and sad and brave. Baruch Hashem for queer Jewish plays and playwrights <3

Beautiful play that hit me right in the grandparent. Soaring familial drama and I love the use of graphics by the writer.

I've not cried in months, but Jake got me pretty good. This play is tragic and beautiful and heartwarming and really very good. The style of writing is really engaging; I would love to see it put up (somewhere near me)!

What a ride. Overlapping themes of addiction/recovery with dementia is just as thematically effective as theatrically satisfying. Shrimpy is a character I never knew I needed until I read "The Reservoir". Timely and genuine, left me breathless from focus - and from laughter.

Josh is such an interesting character that you can't help but root for. This is a beautiful play about the lengths we go to to help others as our own lives fall apart.

Premiere Stages, the professional Equity theatre in residence at Kean University, is pleased to recognize “The Reservoir” by Jake Brasch as a Semi-Finalist for the 2023 Premiere Play Festival. “The Reservoir” rose through a competitive selection process conducted by Premiere staff and a panel of outside theatre professionals to become one of 40 Semi-Finalists out of 701 submissions. The panel was particularly impressed by Josh’s flawed earnestness fueling his desire to hold onto things, as well as the balanced laugh-out-loud comedy and serious reflections. Our congratulations and thanks to Jake.

Never have I ever burst into tears while READING a play. Jake is such a special writer. Their characters are so familiar and funny and surprising. A beautiful, honest portrayal of how hard (but not impossible) sobriety is and how weird and hilarious the journey is. Even the hearts you smash along the way. But there's always room for amends. Brilliant work.

Equally funny and heartbreaking, "The Reservoir" is an absolutely amazing piece about family, addiction, mental health and how those things intersect with one's identity when grappling with recovery. This manages to have the raw, confessional feel of solo performance with Brasch's protagonist making such a clear and unique connection with the audience, while also taking full advantage of having several bodies in theatrical space. I cannot emphasize just how hilarious this piece is...until it made me catch my breath with some potent (and never sentimental) heart punches. The exploration of recovery is deep, comprehensive, complex, and important.