The Return to Morality by Jamie Pachino

"A gem, the kind of play that gets better with each viewing and one which should not be missed... Pachino's play casts a wide net, touching on issues of identity, celebrity, gender, race, politics, spin doctoring, media and language itself. Part comedy, part thriller, part political critique, Morality is intellectually engaging and riveting."

"Extraordinarily entertaining... Funny, acerbic, incisive, and possessing a sensibility that is both current and very human, the comedy-drama moves with supple rhythms and a fluid acting dynamic...a scathingly funny comment on media culture, fame, roots, and misconstrued values, be they conservative, hyperbole or leftist lies."

"A funny and timely satire... Though Pachino minces no words in pointing out that there's little made for public consumption that isn't carefully designed to get our dollars or our votes, her play...doesn't judge so much as it gives the characters enough rope to hang themselves -- and their brands of morality right along with them."

"Sharp, tight and based in an honest concern, its wild yet shockingly acceptable plot is the play's chief asset... Pachino writes with a deft, facile touch. Her light, unburdened dialogue has a nice ear for the monosyllabic spontaneity of conversation. Her political fable depends on a dark streak of cynicism and black comedy...sophisticated and very tricky to create."

"The Return to Morality...is totally cynical, urgently relevant, and wickedly funny...it also strikes the mother lode of iniquity with its trenchant observations on the hypocrisy and venality involved in the merchandising of morality by the media... The Return to Morality, from its satirical title to its surprising but satisfying ending, is a play with a punch that entertains as it admonishes."

"A sardonic knockout, as hilarious as a tent full of clowns and as topical as next year's election... Pachino's text bristles with caustic wit, directed principally toward hypocrites and opportunists in publishing and in politics...the acid social commentary comes across as broad brush lunacy, uproarious on its surface, and thoroughly scary beneath."

"Playwright Jamie Pachino's pointed satire The Return to Morality is a brisk, biting comedy that lunges for the trembling throats of sound-bite-fixated news media and platitude-dealing politicians alike, as well as artists, their art and those who promote or become enamored of that art for the sake of that other fearful American deity, popularity. The play spares no one."

"As a scathing satire on our media saturated age, it hits one high note after another with the accuracy of a missile... Pachino's script has us laughing out loud even as she attacks her targets with surgical skill."

"On the surface...The Return to Morality is a playful, upbeat comedy about the way political attitudes are formed and altered by image managers, spin doctors and the media. But buried under all the superficial fun is a thought-provoking commentary on responsibility, both in and out of the political arena."

"Intelligently written...there is not a missed step in the show, which is tied up in a dandy and unexpected ending. Bravo and brava."