*** John Patrick Shanley is an award-winning writer, winning Pulitzer, Oscar and Tony Awards for “Doubt”, “Outside Mulligar” and “Moonstruck”. In many ways, his work is deep and very human. He now brings us a new work, “Brooklyn Laundry”, having its World Premiere at Northlight Theatre in Skokie.

Directed by BJ Jones, on a set designed by Jeffrey D. Kmiec, this is a love story that has many ups and downs. The main characters in the story are simple people whose lives have hit major snags, leaving them alone and somewhat hesitant to look for love.

Owen ( deftly handled by Mark Montgomery) owns several cleaning/laundry shops. He has recently lost his love. One day, a customer arrives with a laundry bag that is under the required limit. Her name is Fran ( played to perfection by Cassidy Slaughter-Mason) and she is somewhat troubled as well. Her boyfriend has left her, her job sucks, her sister is sick and all in all, her life is not what she had hoped for.

How can these two, total opposites, end up as a couple? Shanley leads us on a path of finding true love in a little under 80 minutes ( no intermission) with four characters . The other characters in the play, are her sister Trish ( well played by Marika Mashburn) who is divorced with two children and is dying. There is another sister, Susie ( Sandra Delgado shines in this character role) who it turns out has pancreatic cancer and a short time left. She also has a child, that will be left behind.

I do not want to give away more that the above, but what happens in this story is all about finding the partner you were meant to be with and accepting them and their baggage, no matter what. Fran and Owen fall in love, then they lose touch and then , as in any true love story ( or at least one with a happy ending), they find the love again.

Life is filled with challenges, some easy to handle, others, not. Owen and Fran face theirs and find the happy ending that the audience wants to see. In “Brooklyn Laundry”, you will leave the theater with a good feeling.

The lighting (JR Lederie) and sound (Lindsay Jones, who also did the original music) are perfect and the props are amazing. I think some of my cleaning was on the 3rd tier, but I did not have my ticket.

“Brooklyn Laundry will continue thru – May 12, with performances as follows: