LAWD the CVS is Burning presented by MPAACT at The Greenhouse Theater Center

Chicago Tribune - Highly Recommended

"...Carla Stillwell's new take-no-prisoners comedy for MPAACT, "Lawd, the CVS is Burning," clearly derives inspiration from Graham's story. But this hot-off-the-cameras and just plain hot social comedy with gospel songs has a lot more balls in the air. At its best, it's an incisive gut-punch-with-belly-laughs about the complicity of media in blaming the victims of police violence and pathologizing entire neighborhoods, crossed with deconstructing stereotypes of black women - from mothers to ministers - much as George C. Wolfe did in "The Last Mama-on-the-Couch Play" from 1986's "The Colored Museum.""

Chicago Reader - Recommended

"...And then there's Mama, played in drag by Quinton Guyton, a very large, very funny man with a fabulous tenor voice. Mama's a Bible-thumping ballbuster who calls her protester son (Max Thomas) "N-word" in order to be politically correct and prays to the picture of "Black Jesus" she keeps hanging on her wall, leading the cast in a series of gospel-tinged numbers with refrains like "I'm a good black mama / So I had to beat his ass." Though in need of sharpening—it doesn't end so much as it runs out of steam—this 80-minute one-act is laugh-out-loud funny as it uses mockery to drive home its message of anger at the way things are and despair that they won't improve."

Windy City Times - Recommended

"...This is a lot of material to pack into a mere 80 minutes of six actors zipping through multiple roles-several mimed behind a silhouette screen on the Greenhouse's tiny first-floor studio stage-and a score encompassing a variety of musical styles from gospel to hip-hop, assisted by composer Shawn Wallace on side piano. The ensemble interplay is as impeccable as it is agile ( although Quinton Guyton's Madea-like turn as the formidable Mama Jackson almost steals the show ). Playgoers are advised not to dwell on comprehending every word of the rapid-fire dialogue in one sitting, but to enjoy the roller-coaster ride and perhaps contemplate a second viewing."

Time Out Chicago - Recommended

"...Despite its source material, Lawd the CVS Is Burning makes for a light and digestible evening of new work, which may be where the production falls short of hitting its mark. While highlighting the mounting list of troubling realities facing black youth, Stillwell’s musical feels confined by its own satirical style, unable to resolve the conflicts which set the action of the play in motion. But maybe that’s the point. The piece successfully warns us about the nature of the media’s role in how we form opinions about the events that shake our nation, and in doing so distracts and removes us from the inciting news story—Maurice “Munchie” Taylor dead in the back of a police car."