This Is How It Goes
by Neil Labute

Name: This Is How It Goes
Brand: Neil Labute
SKU: 9780881456868
Rating: 3.9 (12 reviews)

This Is How It Goes Book Cover — This Is How It Goes Cover

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What readers are saying

Readers have mixed feelings about the play, with many appreciating Neil LaBute's sharp dialogue and deep exploration of contemporary relationships. Some applaud the characters' complexity while others find them unlikable and detached, leading to less emotional investment in their stories. Overall, the play's engaging themes resonate with many readers, but there are criticisms regarding character relatability and narrative depth.

Sharp and engaging dialogueThought-provoking themesStrong character complexitySome characters feel unlikableLacks deep emotional connection

Synopsis

Belinda and Cody Phipps appear to be a typical Midwestern couple: teenage sweethearts, children, luxurious home.

Typical except that Cody is black -- "rich, black, and different," in the words of Belinda, who finds herself attracted to a former (white) classmate.

As the battle for her affections is waged, Belinda and Cody frankly doubt the foundation of their initial attraction, opening the door wide to a swath of bigotry and betrayal.

Staged on continually shifting moral ground that challenges our received notions about gender, ethnicity, and even love itself, THIS IS HOW IT GOES unblinkingly explores the myriad ways in which the wild card of race is played by both black and white in America.

"Neil LaBute is the first dramatist since David Mamet and Sam Shepard -- since Edward Albee, actually -- to mix sympathy and savagery, pathos and power."

--Donald Lyons, New York Post

"LaBute [is] our American Aesop, a mad moral fabulist serving stiff tonic for our country's sin-sick souls."

--John Istel, American Theatre