Praise for Nathan Pugh’s Writing

“Nathan I cannot thank you enough for the rigor and perception with which you wrote this review. It's one of the best pieces of writing about my work that I've ever encountered, and I've felt so invigorated each time I've reread it.”

—Dave Harris, playwright of Incendiary (June 25, 2022 on Twitter)

“I’ve been doggedly avoiding reading any reviews, pans or raves of A Strange Loop but I thought this one was pretty thoughtful and hit on some things that haven’t been said before.”

—Michael R. Jackson, Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright of A Strange Loop (June 11, 2022 on Twitter). The NPR article was also retweeted by Mindy Kaling (actress and A Strange Loop producer), Greg Reiner (Director of Theater and Musical Theater for the National Endowment of the Arts), and scholar Samuel Yates

“Thank you for this!”

—Andrew Ahn, director of Fire Island (June 8, 2022 on Twitter) in response to this list article

“Pugh’s work is a shining example of articulate, reflective and meaningful arts journalism that is so vital but unfortunately diminishing. Pugh and the quality and content of his writing deserves to be spoken of in the same breath as the better known titans of DC theater criticism.”

—Mosaic Theatre Company Instagram post (July 4, 2022) sharing this interview with Benjamin Benne

“This is a really thoughtful review of A Strange Loop.”

— Michael R. Jackson, Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright of A Strange Loop (Oct 15, 2019 on Twitter). Jackson also shared this Theatrely review on his Instagram story on Dec. 7, 2021. The Theatrely review was also featured A Strange Loop’s Broadway website during previews in April of 2022.

“This is my absolute favorite review of @SlavePlayBroadway and it’s by two undergrads at Wesleyan! Thank you for taking time with the ideas, structures and theories in the Play. PLEASE READ.”

— Jeremy O. Harris, Tony-nominated playwright of Slave Play (Oct 29, 2020 on Twitter)

“It was so beautifully written… thank you for your candor and vulnerability.”

—Kuhoo Verma, original cast member of Octet and Drama Desk Award winner (December 2020 Instagram story in response to this essay)

“As a Filipinx, I couldn’t be more grateful to have had a Filipino writer in the audience - likely my first ever. Thank you, @nathanpugh_3, for highlighting my ethnicity, culture, and how it informs the play. I cried reading this. Salamat!”

— Regina Aquino, Filipinx actor and Helen Hayes Award winner (Oct. 29, 2021 on Twitter)

“@nathanpugh_3’s review in the Wesleyan student paper makes me glad I still have #Fairview Google Alerts. If yr in the arts take a minute and actually click the link.”

—Adriana Leshko, publicist for Theater for a New Audience’s production of Fairview (Oct 1, 2019 on Twitter)

“It was very exciting to wake up yesterday to this review of SYMP by Nathan Pugh. A clear-eyed, creative, and raw take. The kind of analysis that makes us all better artists and viewers. THIS is what theater criticism can and should look like, at Wesleyan and beyond!!”

—Maggie Rothberg, co-creator of “SYMP” (September 4, 2020 on Facebook)