Chicago Tribune - Somewhat Recommended
"...What a play like this really needs is a big scene around the dinner table, or some other forced gathering of the key players. We need to see the men bounce off one another. We need to see their personalities in a group, the affection and the resentment. The weirdness and the pain. The way people have a way of regressing around those with whom they shared a childhood. In short, we need a reason to care about them as a family. Even a dysfunctional one."
Chicago Reader - Recommended
"...Dramaturgically, Alvarado's story is a bit of a mess, but it's venturesome and truthful enough to be a good, if peculiar, kind of mess. Directed by Ricardo Gutierrez, this Teatro Vista production features some fascinating and heartfelt scene work that goes beyond the usual antihero conventions, even if its parts are greater than its sum."
Windy City Times - Somewhat Recommended
"...That's a lot to pile on a play's plate, and considerably more than can be fully explored and resolved even in the two-and-a-half-hour running time ( with intermission ). Having obtained this well-presented world premiere, author Mando Alvarado now must make tough choices-not so much about length ( trimming 10-15 minutes would be easy ) as about focus. I learned coincidentally that Parachute Men is highly autobiographical, which explains why Alvarado has poured so much into it. But not everything in life makes a good play. Right now, Alvarado tries to give all three brothers equal attention, to the detriment of building up a single hero, and the brothers indulge in emotionally repetitive behaviors."
ChicagoCritic - Recommended
"...We see if acceptance and brotherly love can become the first step toward maturity among the brothers? While this play has some precious moments and some dark humor, I must admit that I'm not sure what the intent of playwright Alvarado was here? J. Salome Martinez and Tommy Rivera-Vegs gave heartfelt performances giving enough reasons to see this provocative play."
Chicago Theatre Review - Highly Recommended
"....Yet, the sins and tumults of the past continue to haunt Eric and his family, and playwright Mando Alvarado and director Ricardo Gutiérrez weave a sublimely complex tale across “Parachute Men’s” two and a half hours, one that mines the subtleties of everyday life and refines them into first-class drama; indeed, theater rarely gets better. “Parachute Men” is patient, nonjudgmental, and most importantly, challenging of the audience with its unflinchingness, providing developments and situations that all but dare the audience to keep watching."
NewCity Chicago - Somewhat Recommended
"...The best and brightest moments of this play come when the brothers confront why their relationship is fragmented. However, those moments are often drowned out by excessive distractions that take you out of the world of the play. Specifically Eric’s weird (for lack of a better word) character flaw that is given entirely too much stage time. It’s good for laughs initially but as time goes on it becomes absurd and cringe-worthy."
