This is a really lovely play that examines the way family interacts allowing a reader to love the characters, while at the same time showing the annoying characteristics that the characters encompass (perhaps designed to remind us of our own families?). The dialogue is very witty and fast and there is an aspect of nostalgia that is communicated through language and color which is beautiful on paper and probably even more so on stage.

This is a play where the message was conceived first, and the play and characters were constructed around it. The result is a heavy handed didactic piece. One can endure heavy handedness, however, if the teaching is other than banal. In the case of this play, one only endures.

The first time I read this script, I thought it would not be a good play at all. However, my school then put the play on, and I had the part of Frazier. Not only was it the most amazing experience of my life, I began to truly realize the amazing depth and excellence of this script. It is aboslutley amazing if directed well.

Well, I think you should read the play if you're going to review it. I mean, that is the point of a BOOK review, isn't it?

I both saw and read it, and onstage, one couldn't help but be exhilarated by the performance of Cherry Jones, one of our great American actresses. I saw an early version of the play in San Diego, then the slightly rewritten version in New York, and thought the changes made the piece stronger.

Tina Howe's voice and vision are spectacular here. Most people ignore her early, surrealist, work, and think of her as the female AR Gurney...writing about loopy wasps, such as in Painting Churches and The Art of Dining.

For those who know the early work (Birth and Afterbirth, The Nest), and who have followed her path in the last few years (prior to Pride's Crossing, she wrote One Shoe Off, which was a challenging and dangerous adult play, with more in common with Albee than Gurney), the play will fit in with themes she has explored and pondered for three decades or so.

A memory play, the 'present' is the life of the 90-something Mabel Tydings Bigelow, who swam the English channel in the 1920s. Her memory takes her back to her childhood, and the triumph of her youth, bucking the disapproval of her mother, and being ignored by her brothers, marrying a wastrel, and leaving the man she truly loved.

I sometimes wonder at the backlash at plays that focus on women and their lives, as they they aren't "important" enough to merit serious critical consideration. It seems to me it's a function of the sexism still inherent in the critical community, and while we've come a long way since the early 1900s, there are still many barriers yet to be broken down.

Tina Howe's plays draw from a variety of emotions that could delight any reader or performer. Her unique style is refreshing and her contemporary in-your-face bluntness adds excitement to her dialogue. This is a great selection for those who enjoy contemporary theatre- especially women. As a woman, I found her characters to be very truthful and a realisitc portrayal of the many trials some females naturally face. As an actor, I suggest this book to all actors searching for a strong monologue. Howe's characters have a lot to say, and her wonderful writing style gives you a powerful way to say it.

This play is humerous and timeless. Howe creates some vey funny scenarios, and loveable charachters. A treat in reading and performance (especially given the multitude of food props used in performance)