Mayfly

'This debut play crackles with unforced humour… White has the assurance of an Ayckbourn in saddling apparently 'ordinary' people with big problems and emotions, thus proving how far from ordinary they are, and he juggles tone and pacing like a veteran… a seriously promising start'

'A triumph… a delicate and tender examination of rural isolation and familial grief'

'A show tinged with loss and a longing for past glories… for all the simmering emotion, however, it's not a maudlin piece; there's a surprising amount of laughs and Joe White's script delicately moves conversation from touching moment to humorous awkward exchange, each scene crafted to move the action of the day forward in a quirky but believable way'

'A heartbreakingly funny debut… this is a tender and wise play suffused with grief and absence that scratches at the fragility of our existence and asks how we keep alive our memories of those we have lost. It's a play about people consumed by misery yet it is unexpectedly funny and – like its dented, broken characters – always likable'

'Illuminates the darkness and longing of the loss of a loved one... it's also brilliantly funny. Even in the play's darkest moments, there are laugh-out-loud lines'

'White has an ability to switch between sharp wit and pathos in a heartbeat... an impressive debut from a very promising writer'

'An affecting debut play... White has a great ear for the sharp and sometimes spiteful edges of grief'

'A special play... there is an honesty to White's writing, and a willingness to put his heart on the line'