←Recommendations of Stop Laughing Without Me

Sometimes, we as playwrights, in our quest to hold a mirror up to society in the futile but necessary quest to right the wrongs of society and civilization with searing, lacerating, devastating, uncompromising, incendiary drama write other things instead.

And it doesn't feel good!

Here, Williams holds up a mirror to playwrights and producers in the futile but necessary quest to get at least one of them not to take themselves too seriously. A fun read that any playwright, producer, and especially any playwright-producer can relate to!

One of the revelations of playwrighting is discovering that audiences/readers find in your work things you never intended. In this play, Claude the playwright thinks he's written a drama, Sid the producer thinks he's reading a comedy. This short account of their discussion has a big payoff. Terrific work from Williams as always.

I love it when playwrights know how walk the tightrope of writing down the middle, and Philip Middleton Williams brilliantly lives up to his second name. Both playwright and producer are both wrong and right in this clash of wills...but in the final analysis I'll side with the one who can laugh.

Williams taps into the apprehension and misapprehension all writers face with their work in this wicked short satire. How strongly (or stubbornly) should we hold onto our “artistic vision”? Do we know our work as well as we think, or might others have valid insights we fail to see? Is comedy the poor stepchild of “serious” drama? These are just a few of the many ideas the play ponders while ramping up the anxiety as it heads toward a parting rimshot that literally has the last laugh.