Water by the Spoonful tells the story of Elliot, who, after serving time in Iraq, returns home to Philadelphia to connect with his Puerto Rican family. But when he arrives, he discovers his family’s life is changing. As his mother’s online support group starts to overshadow his aspirations for the future, the online world and the world of reality collide.
What Is the Story of Water by the Spoonful?
Young Iraq war veteran Elliot, who has returned home to Philadelphia, discovers that his beloved aunt (who served as his adoptive mother and the "rock" of their Puerto Rican family) has died. In a parallel plotline, Odesssa, known online as "Haiku Mom," is the moderator of an internet support group for a lively collection of recovering crack addicts. Elliot and Odessa's storylines eventually intersect in ways that are both moving and haunting, as both face their past failures and search for a happier future.
"In Quiara Alegria Hudes' beautifully resounding drama 'Water By the Spoonful,' the playwright examines an array of emotional toils by splashing together droplets of life's bleak realities, harsh revelations, fragile successes and modest triumphs, all of which conspire like tiny specks of contrasting colors on a canvas."
Associated Press
Peter Santilli
"Hudes—also a 2007 Pulitzer finalist for ‘Elliot, A Soldier's Fugue’ and book writer of the 2009 Pulitzer-finalist musical ‘In the Heights’—cares deeply about her characters. That concern is contagious."
Newsday
Linda Winer
"[Armando] Riesco’s movingly drawn Elliot has the life-toughened exterior of a young man who is keeping his anxieties under tight but tenuous control."
The New York Times
Charles Isherwood