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Reverberation
You don't have to tell me everything at once. Just tell me a little bit. And then a little bit more. And you could just keep telling me until eventually I'd know you.
After a tragedy, Jonathan has withdrawn from the world, curtailing his social life to brief encounters with men he meets online. When free spirit Claire moves into the flat upstairs, she tries to coax him out of his shell. Drawn together by their desire for emotional attachment, they form a connection, but the happiness they find is threatened as the past reverberates.
Matthew López's funny, sexy play about loneliness and longing was first performed at Hartford Stage, Connecticut, in 2015. It received its European premiere, in this reshaped version, at the Bristol Old Vic in October 2024.
After a tragedy, Jonathan has withdrawn from the world, curtailing his social life to brief encounters with men he meets online. When free spirit Claire moves into the flat upstairs, she tries to coax him out of his shell. Drawn together by their desire for emotional attachment, they form a connection, but the happiness they find is threatened as the past reverberates.
Matthew López's funny, sexy play about loneliness and longing was first performed at Hartford Stage, Connecticut, in 2015. It received its European premiere, in this reshaped version, at the Bristol Old Vic in October 2024.
106 pages, ebook
Published January 1, 2015
About the author
Matthew López
13 books43 followersAmerican playwright, known for The Whipping Man and The Inheritance.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
March 26, 2026
4.5, rounded down.
Lopez's career is something of a conundrum - on the one hand he is best known for his deservedly award-winning serious work, such as The Inheritance (considered by many to be the best play yet of the 21st century) and The Whipping Man - and on the other, for light and silly fluff such as The Legend of Georgia McBride and the screenplay of Red, White & Royal Blue (whose source I DNF'd for being unreadable dreck!). This play somewhat straddles that divide.
Originally staged in the US in 2015, it has been slightly revised for its London premiere in 2024, relocating the action from Queens, NY to Tottenham, London, and making small adjustments to accommodate that switch. It has a bit of a 'Will & Grace' vibe, detailing the growing relationship between a reclusive gay man, Jonathan, and his recently arrived and rather ditsy American neighbor, Claire - who has moved into the flat upstairs that Jonathan initially occupied with his now deceased partner.
The revelation of why Jonathan made that move, along with a late act of shocking violence that sharply divided critics, keep this from sit-com territory, however. I thought the climax more or less 'worked', but the final short scene and curtain line, which veers slightly into supernatural territory and explains the title, as well as an extremely quick and major scene change, gave me pause.
The other qualm I had is a VERY graphic opening scene and the requirement for total nudity by all three characters (the third being Wes, a Grindr pickup of Jonathan's who stalwartly refuses to remain a one-night stand), which don't entirely seem necessary. It's interesting that the recent production has credits for BOTH an intimacy coordinator and a drama therapist, whereas the original (which starred Luke Macfarlane!) does not.
https://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/07/th...
https://www.theguardian.com/stage/202...
Lopez's career is something of a conundrum - on the one hand he is best known for his deservedly award-winning serious work, such as The Inheritance (considered by many to be the best play yet of the 21st century) and The Whipping Man - and on the other, for light and silly fluff such as The Legend of Georgia McBride and the screenplay of Red, White & Royal Blue (whose source I DNF'd for being unreadable dreck!). This play somewhat straddles that divide.
Originally staged in the US in 2015, it has been slightly revised for its London premiere in 2024, relocating the action from Queens, NY to Tottenham, London, and making small adjustments to accommodate that switch. It has a bit of a 'Will & Grace' vibe, detailing the growing relationship between a reclusive gay man, Jonathan, and his recently arrived and rather ditsy American neighbor, Claire - who has moved into the flat upstairs that Jonathan initially occupied with his now deceased partner.
The revelation of why Jonathan made that move, along with a late act of shocking violence that sharply divided critics, keep this from sit-com territory, however. I thought the climax more or less 'worked', but the final short scene and curtain line, which veers slightly into supernatural territory and explains the title, as well as an extremely quick and major scene change, gave me pause.
The other qualm I had is a VERY graphic opening scene and the requirement for total nudity by all three characters (the third being Wes, a Grindr pickup of Jonathan's who stalwartly refuses to remain a one-night stand), which don't entirely seem necessary. It's interesting that the recent production has credits for BOTH an intimacy coordinator and a drama therapist, whereas the original (which starred Luke Macfarlane!) does not.
https://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/07/th...
https://www.theguardian.com/stage/202...
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March 30, 2020the ending. :(((
April 7, 2025
Ich mochte es sehr gern! Ehrliche Beziehungen!
April 5, 2026
The second Wes/Jonathan scene?
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews