Spare Change at Second Stage Theatre

Chicago Tribune - Somewhat Recommended

"...The premise has a lot of possibility and is inspired by an actual experience McCullough had while working the crisis line at a battered women's shelter in Evanston. Too often, though, she kicks dirt on the same material without moving the conversation forward. Director Ann Filmer lets the moments of subtlety that do exist in the script roll by without a second glance."

Chicago Sun Times - Recommended

"...Spare Change" is smartly written, directed (by Ann Filmer) and acted, but there really is nothing new here when it comes to ideas and questions that change lives. The playwright has said the piece was inspired by her time working a phone line at a crisis center. And the scenes between Michael Ann and her social worker, Thelma (Angelique Westerfield), are the intense heart of the play."

Windy City Times - Somewhat Recommended

"...Neither playwright Mia McCullough nor director Ann Filmer seems to have made up their minds which play this one is, however. The author’s firsthand experience working at a domestic-violence crisis line forestalls a contrived happy ending, but also fosters an annoying ambivalence."

Time Out Chicago - Somewhat Recommended

"... In McCullough’s Spare Change, we get a taste of the journey, or at least a train ride’s worth, as a corporate suit (nicely harried Heckman) is haunted by a series of chance CTA encounters with a homeless mother (the very fine Caciopoli). Except while the conflict in action is welcome, and Filmer’s solid cast gives it a grounded integrity, Spare Change, like Butter, can still only see underclass woes from the side of the street that has a Starbucks."

ChicagoCritic - Highly Recommended

"...McCullough is a rising playwright with enormous talent; Stage Left is one fine little company; and Spare Change is a stunning example of why I believe that Chicago is the hottest theatre scene around. Do not miss this show."