Love and Human Remains presented by Cor Theatre at Rivendell Theatre

Chicago Tribune - Recommended

"...The play apparently hasn't been produced in Chicago since 1995, and director Ernie Nolan's production can't quite make a case for itself. What it does have going for it is one of the more unnerving sound cues I have ever heard. Imagine the sound of scraping metal combined with a woman's desperate shriek, and you're nearly there. It's a devil scream, and it's played at full volume. That's theater, albeit to not my particular taste, but it's wildly effective. If only it were deployed more discriminately. It's used twice, and both times it feels random. Scary. But random."

Chicago Reader - Recommended

"...Fraser would go on to edit Queer as Folk, HBO’s 2000 spinoff of Britain’s series celebrating gay culture, and here it feels like he’s already gearing up for that career move—the dialogue’s punch and the constant cutting back and forth between scenes feel more suited to TV. But that's not necessarily a bad thing, and if you can get past the datedness—as obviously Ernie Nolan, director of this Cor Theatre production, has—there are some sweetly handled moments well worth watching. Fraser’s premise involves a serial killer on the loose, but the play’s main themes revolve around antagonism towards women and sexual discovery, which in the time of Caitlin Jenner don’t feel so dated after all."

Windy City Times - Highly Recommended

"...Cor Theatre's aesthetic being rooted in physical expression, the minimalistic approach to the simulated sex-and-violence acrobatics necessitated by restricted stage space do nothing to diminish the kinetic excitement generated by an ensemble as athletically impressive as it is verbally agile. The results make for a smartly constructed morality fable of wayward pilgrims discovering the error of obsessive egotism as well as the vows to love honestly and wisely."

Time Out Chicago - Somewhat Recommended

"...The additional layer of the serial killer (it’s obviously one of the characters and obvious which one it is), along with, perhaps, the waiter’s seduction of his teenage busboy, or the psychic dominatrix narrator, take the proceedings over the top from melodrama into prurient absurdity. The play’s views on sexual and emotional violence feel shallow; the sexual perversity is empty titillation."

ChicagoCritic - Recommended

"...Cor’s production is done well; the question is simply whether you like a kind of storytelling that was created to be abrasive. Using a serial killer as a metaphor for the way people tear apart each other’s hearts is obviously hyperbolic, but on a literal level, this plotline provides the play with some welcome action sequences late in the story. The play also seems to have been updated somewhat, with characters using cell phones to send text messages, and so forth."

Chicago Theatre Review - Highly Recommended

"...Brad Fraser's darkly disturbing drama, expertly directed by Ernie Nolan, will bring chills to audiences on these warm, summer evenings. It may prompt theatergoers to take another look at the people in their lives as well as the strangers they encounter. It will titillate and traumatize, frighten and fascinate, but this much is certain: theatergoers won't be able to look away or stop thinking about this production, long after the final curtain. It's sex and the city with a big dose of vexation and violence."