THIS MUCH I KNOW
100 minutes, 2 M 1 W
A psychology professor's search for his missing wife launches us on a time-hopping fugue, weaving together the stories of Stalin's daughter defecting to America, the son of a white supremacist growing to doubt the beliefs he was raised with, and the secret despair of becoming an accidental killer. In This Much I Know, Jonathan Spector takes us on an explosively theatrical interrogation of how we make decisions, how we change our minds, and how much responsibility we bear for the things we do not control.
Selected history:
[2024] Theater J (Washington, DC) upcoming production
[2023] Hampstead Theater (London) upcoming production
[2022] Aurora (Berkeley) production
[2022] Manhattan Theater Club (reading)
[2021] New Harmony Project (Indiana) residency
[2021] Playwrights Centers' Ruth Easton Series (Minneapolis) workshop
[2020] PlayPenn New Play Conference (Philadelphia) workshop - cancelled
[2019] Playwrights Foundation's Rough Reading Series (San Francisco) reading
[2018] Just Theater New Play Lab (Berkeley) reading
[2017] Berkeley Rep's Ground Floor (Berkeley) residency
Honors/Awards:
[2023] Will Glickman New Play Award
[2023] Bay Area Theater Critics Circle Award, Best New Play
[2022] Top Ten Plays of 2022, San Jose Mercury News
[2021] Edgerton New Play Award
REVIEWS:
"The whirligig of a show instantly communicates sturdy, expert construction and sleek craftsmanship. Then playwright Jonathan Spector sends it spinning, whirring, whooshing like a propeller...combines deep respect for its audience with infectious enthusiasm for its intellectual preoccupations."
Lily Janiak, San Francisco Chronicle
"Spector is a whiz at the high-wire act of throwing us off balance just enough to keep us questioning our assumptions, yet never pushing us so far that we tumble from the wire."
Patrick Thomas, Talkin' Broadway
"A thinking man's play that challenges, enlightens and delights." Steve Murray, BroadwayWorld
"Presents sophisticated issues without sacrificing the theatricality that keeps its audience fully engaged. It’s the kind of play you will talk about long after you leave the theater. Emily Mendel, Berkeleyside.
"A riveting, fast-paced narrative that entertains and provokes to the fullest."
Victor Cordell, Berkshire Fine Arts
100 minutes, 2 M 1 W
A psychology professor's search for his missing wife launches us on a time-hopping fugue, weaving together the stories of Stalin's daughter defecting to America, the son of a white supremacist growing to doubt the beliefs he was raised with, and the secret despair of becoming an accidental killer. In This Much I Know, Jonathan Spector takes us on an explosively theatrical interrogation of how we make decisions, how we change our minds, and how much responsibility we bear for the things we do not control.
Selected history:
[2024] Theater J (Washington, DC) upcoming production
[2023] Hampstead Theater (London) upcoming production
[2022] Aurora (Berkeley) production
[2022] Manhattan Theater Club (reading)
[2021] New Harmony Project (Indiana) residency
[2021] Playwrights Centers' Ruth Easton Series (Minneapolis) workshop
[2020] PlayPenn New Play Conference (Philadelphia) workshop - cancelled
[2019] Playwrights Foundation's Rough Reading Series (San Francisco) reading
[2018] Just Theater New Play Lab (Berkeley) reading
[2017] Berkeley Rep's Ground Floor (Berkeley) residency
Honors/Awards:
[2023] Will Glickman New Play Award
[2023] Bay Area Theater Critics Circle Award, Best New Play
[2022] Top Ten Plays of 2022, San Jose Mercury News
[2021] Edgerton New Play Award
REVIEWS:
"The whirligig of a show instantly communicates sturdy, expert construction and sleek craftsmanship. Then playwright Jonathan Spector sends it spinning, whirring, whooshing like a propeller...combines deep respect for its audience with infectious enthusiasm for its intellectual preoccupations."
Lily Janiak, San Francisco Chronicle
"Spector is a whiz at the high-wire act of throwing us off balance just enough to keep us questioning our assumptions, yet never pushing us so far that we tumble from the wire."
Patrick Thomas, Talkin' Broadway
"A thinking man's play that challenges, enlightens and delights." Steve Murray, BroadwayWorld
"Presents sophisticated issues without sacrificing the theatricality that keeps its audience fully engaged. It’s the kind of play you will talk about long after you leave the theater. Emily Mendel, Berkeleyside.
"A riveting, fast-paced narrative that entertains and provokes to the fullest."
Victor Cordell, Berkshire Fine Arts