{IN DEVELOPMENT}

The Sky Was Brilliant is a trilogy of plays about New York right before, in the immediate aftermath of, and well after the supposed recovery from a great crisis. It tells the story of Kent St. John's legendary Passage Restaurant Group, which may or may not look like any number of famous corporate hospitality groups in the city today. 

Part 1, Tonglen, told through the lens of the company's reservations office, is about the clientele of the restaurant group as the world they're used to living in hurtles towards a devastating crisis. A hectic choral extravaganza with six actors playing up to 25 roles apiece, Tonglen asks its reservationists and its audience alike what it means to be fully committed to a cause that might end up falling apart despite all efforts to hold it together.

Part 2, This Actual Year, maps out Kent St. John's attempt to reopen his iconic Meatpacking District late night supper club, Absinthe, in the wake of the crisis and the loss of his husband. A gentle meditation on what it means to attempt to move on from trauma, This Actual Year tries to figure out what it means to dust your hands off and say "Now what?" 

And Part 3, The Spot Where It Had Gone, is the story of Jonas Bruckner, the executive chef at Passage's French steakhouse, Cote de Boeuf, reeling in the wake of a re-review by the New York Times that took away their previous two stars. A communal attempt to figure out how to revamp a system resistant to change when it becomes clear that very system is no longer serving the folks it's supposed to, The Spot Where It Had Gone looks to the future and tries to balance hope and pragmatism in an industry as relentless as it is necessary.