A writer’s troubled apprenticeship leads to a psychological paralysis half a decade later.

“What Didn’t Happen is about the distance between people, and the ways in which even friends, spouses and lovers are ultimately unknowable to one another. Mr. Shinn writes with a highly polished eloquence. But it is, above all, his focus on that indefinable ‘something’ that makes him a playwright to cherish. Hope-inspiring.” – Ben Brantley, New York Times

“Shinn just cannot write a fake or untelling word. What Didn’t Happen is a delightful tale.” – Donald Lyons, New York Post

“The play commands your interest. Shinn once again proves himself to be a writer who knows how to elevate seemingly familiar types into strong characters who talk in the vernacular of real people. Reading a plot summary doesn’t begin to do justice to Shinn’s nuances.” – Elyse Sommer, CurtainUp

world premiere: Playwrights Horizons, 2002 (pictured). Directed by Michael Wilson.

This play is also included in the anthology “Where Do We Live and other plays.”

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