âHudesâs writing is controlled and graceful. Each of the playâs 15 short scenes is perfectly balanced, the language both lyrical and lucid.â âRichard Zoglin, Time
âFor a drama peopled by characters who have traveled a long way in the dark, Water by the Spoonful gives off a shimmering, sustaining warmth. Ms. Hudes writes with such empathy and vibrant humor about people helping one another to face down their demons that regeneration and renewal always seem to be just around the corner.â âCharles Isherwood, New York Times
Winner of the 2012 Pulitzer Prize for Drama, Water by the Spoonful is âa rich, brilliant montage of American urban life that is as dazzling to watch as it is difficult to look away fromâ (Associated Press).
Somewhere in Philadelphia, Elliot has returned from Iraq and is struggling to find his place in the world. Somewhere in a chat room, recovering addicts forge an unbreakable bond of support and love. The boundaries of family and community are stretched across continents and cyberspace as birth families splinter and online families collide.
Water by the Spoonful is a heartfelt and poetic meditation on lives on the brink of redemption and self-discovery during a time of heightened uncertainty, âas startling and innovative and human on the page as on the stageâ (Junot DÃaz, Pulitzer Prize-Winning author). Hudesâs cycle of three plays began with Elliot, A Soldierâs Fugue (Pulitzer Prize finalist) and concludes with The Happiest Song Plays Last.
Quiara AlegrÃa Hudes is the author of the Pulitzer Prize-winning Water by the Spoonful, the Tony Award-winning musical In the Heights and the Pulitzer Prize finalist Elliot, A Soldierâs Fugue. Her other works include Barrio Grrrl!, a childrenâs musical; 26 Miles; Yemayaâs Belly and The Happiest Song Plays Last, the third piece in her acclaimed trilogy. Hudes is on the board of Philadelphia Young Playwrights, which produced her first play in the tenth grade. She now lives in New York with her husband and children.