Chicago Tribune - Somewhat Recommended
"...Nonetheless, let us stipulate, "Feathers and Teeth" already is that rare show in our socially earnest collection of nonprofit theaters that will make high school kids and college students feel like they're on a date rather than still doing their social-studies homework."
Chicago Reader - Somewhat Recommended
"...An oddball mashup of Hamlet and Gremlins, set in 1978, Feathers and Teeth gives us 13-year-old Chris, who suspects foul play when her dad shacks up with comely home-care nurse Carol just two months after Chris's sick mom shuffled off this mortal coil. Smith hasn't figured out the rules of her little cosmos and fails to supply a real ending. Still, a crack cast and Henry Godinez's thump-in-the-night direction make for amusing mayhem."
Time Out Chicago - Recommended
"...Yet there are flashes of oddness, even menace, in Carol’s behavior, and she does seem to hold a strange thrall over Arthur. Are these hints of something inhuman? Is Chris both psychopathic and right? What’s up with the hungry little beasties? Castro Smith leaves you guessing right up to the end. For better or worse, she leaves you guessing beyond then as well."
ChicagoCritic - Recommended
"...Nevertheless, weaknesses in the script notwithstanding, the production as a whole offers an undoubtedly original and multifarious theatrical experience. Christina Hall as Carol finds layers in her character that provide much-appreciated substance to her seemingly airy, buoyant nurse; and Jordan Brodess as Hugo delivers precision comedic timing to make him the most earnestly humorous and enjoyable character of play (perhaps because he was the least campy). Even more fascinating was watching Carolyn Hoerdemann spin vinyl discs, dance, and create live effects while she danced in her long hair. Add to all this the production's expressive use of 70s rock and the shadow puppetry designed by Andrea Everman, and you have a production quite unlike any other currently playing, making for, at the very least, an entertaining evening to talk about."
Chicago Stage and Screen - Somewhat Recommended
"...Feathers and Teeth is as strange a hybrid as the creature referred to in its title. Part 70's family television parody, part campy horror, it occasionally ventures into an examination of grief and its consequences only to plunge into absurdity. Still, it is a lot of fun to watch the talented cast attack their roles with a relish that almost makes the illogical plot twists excusable. The designers have pulled out all of the stops in creating a creepy, bloody playground. Foley artist Carolyn Hoerdemann adds another layer of unhinged horror as she becomes the sound effects she creates. Christina Hall turns in a deliciously demented performance as the alternately cheery and chilling Carol. In some ways, the play falls victim to expectations. I expected more substance based on the Goodman's pitch, but the clever melange of styles is well-realized enough to make for an enjoyable evening-just don't dig too deep."
Around The Town Chicago - Somewhat Recommended
"...The story is designed to deal with realism of loss in a family and mix it with the comic touches that took place in the earlier and campy horror flicks ( way before the high technology of today's world). The grief and anguish of the teen age girl is not truly want it is purported to be and so the feeling does not come through as it might have. The story is headlined as "Home Sweet Home...or Haunted House? I am not sure which it truly is, so you will have to judge for yourselves. The title is about the "thing" that makes its appearance early in the story and while we never see it, we always know where it is. Or do we?"
Chicago Theatre Review - Recommended
"...Charise Castro Smith’s premiere opens the Goodman’s Owen Theatre season with a shudder and a laugh. Filled with both moments of outrageous comedy and horror, this unsettling melodrama examines the sorrow of losing a loved one and the anger felt when a stranger tries too hard to fill that void, all paired with a house that’s haunted by some strange, bloodthirsty creatures that continually go bump in the night. This is entertainment that will add an extra chill and a giggle to the Autumn theatrical season."
