←Recommendations of THIS HAPPENED ONCE AT THE ROMANCE DEPOT OFF THE 1-87 IN WESTCHESTER

The way Gina leads us with a sure, easy hand into off-center (yet we know exactly who they are) characters is such a treat in this bittersweet, almost gentle play. Set in a sex shop where porn, vibrators, piano tunes and Disney films as art form all play together nicely, the world of THIS HAPPENED is at once everyday and taboo, way familiar (in a good way) and totally unexpected.

Oh, I love this play. Such a tender, gentle, humane story about the kinds of characters we never get to meet onstage.

This play takes taboo and flips it on it's head, the exploration of sexuality with compassion and humanity found in the characters leaves you satisfied and yearning for a more understanding world.

A heartfelt look at loneliness in the modern world with characters you can't help but love. Plus a piano covered with dildos? Who could ask for anything more?

This play has made me cry every time I've heard it. Incisive and intimate.

A beautiful play about the soft tragedies that can so easily define our lives. It's funny, moving, and just the right amount of risqué. Femia puts together characters so naturally that you hardly notice how exceptionally well-crafted it is until you get to the end and find yourself deeply moved.

This is the kind of play that exposes the complications in simple life with such delicacy and truth that your heart becomes broken even before you know it. Femia has a knack for taking pain and making it beautiful through her words. After seeing a reading of it, me and my companions couldn't stop talking about it. Can't wait to see it as a full production!

This play is beautiful and poetic and taboo and painful and human - all the hallmarks I've come to expect from Gina Femia's work.

If you're looking for a play that has that feeling of "Cheers"---where lonely people gather for companionship and hope for the possibility of romance, take a moment to pull off the superhighway and give this one a read. But this is more than a sit-com or rom-com genre---Gina's writing is relentless, full of energy, full of questions, and not afraid of dealing with tough conversations about past pain. I also liked the metaphor of the piano in this store, and why it's there.

I love reading early drafts of plays!!! Really excited to follow the development of this play. This is yet another example of Gina Femia subverting audience expectations with her characters choices and leaving things messy in awesome ways. JUST LIKE IN REAL LIFE!!! Also a really charming workplace play.