The Best We Could (a family tragedy)
by Emily Feldman

Name: The Best We Could (a family tragedy)
Brand: Emily Feldman
SKU: 9780573710629
Rating: 3.25 (16 reviews)

Off-Broadway

The Best We Could (a family tragedy) Cover

The Best We Could (a family tragedy) Book Cover — The Best We Could (a family tragedy) Cover

Highlights

Female

Male

90 mins Present Day Bare Stage/Simple Set Contemporary Costumes/Street Clothes

Synopsis

In this funny, wise, and heartbreaking debut from Emily Feldman, a daughter’s road trip with her father becomes a theatrical journey across more than just state lines.

Though 36-year old Ella has nearly given up on life, she agrees to accompany her father Lou on a long-distance trip to adopt a rescue dog.

Guided by a narrator called Maps and interspersed with memories and phone calls from Ella’s mother, Peg, their journey reveals hard truths as their pasts slowly rise to the surface.

Press Reviews

"Provocative... [a] shocking tragedy punctuated with dark humor... a non-linear memory play framed in a meta-theatrical device inspired by Thornton Wilder’s iconic Our Town, but with a decidedly post-modern theme that addresses a hot-button issue of our time... leaves us thinking about the generational changes and gender-based differences in perception and reaction to untoward situations with colleagues in the workplace"
— DC Theater Arts

"★★★★ “The premise isn't fantastical. It's painfully plausible. It takes emotions and experiences we as humans champion — connection, family, integrity — and flips them on their head."
— New York Theatre Guide

"[An] absorbing, precociously humane account of an aging man's relationship with his 30-something daughter... Emily Feldman reveals her characters like pieces in a puzzle assembled over time, and their foibles are drawn with maturity and compassion."
— The New York Sun

"Searingly insightful... Cosmic questions that lurk beneath everyday routines seem to creep in from the periphery... the loudest being, is this really all there is to life? There is more to Feldman’s layered investigation of consumer capitalism, kinship and gendered power imbalances, which she brings to light throughout The Best We Could in the manner of family secrets: There’s no escaping the ones you love, or the truth."
— The New York Times