Boys & Girls presented by Theatre Seven of Chicago at Chicago Cultural Center

Chicago Reader - Somewhat Recommended

"...In MacLeod's The Shallow End, acerbically directed by Meghan Beals-McCarthy, mean girls prefer passive-aggressive backbiting. (Happily, one teen grows out of it.) Each playwright adeptly contrasts evil small talk against the backdrop of a lingering tragedy. Nobody wins in these dead-end showdowns, and there's no breaking news. But Theatre Seven's excellent ensemble act them with painful, sometimes thrilling precision."

Windy City Times - Somewhat Recommended

"...Both one acts—Never Swim Alone is followed by Wendy MacLeod's The Shallow End—deal with competition and cruelty. But while MacIvor's 40-minute piece about vicious young corporate execs is both intriguing and disturbing, MacLeod's tale of mean girls at a swimming pool honestly feels more like an extracurricular middle school project than a professional production."

Centerstage - Recommended

"...The four young actresses (Olivia Cygan, Emma Jane Hostetler, Sydney Lynch and Zoe Levin) craft themselves with flawless ease around the struggles of popularity and what it means to navigate the brutal, bodysnarking world of female adolescence."

Time Out Chicago - Recommended

"...Given the sleek violence of MacIvor’s play, pairing it with MacLeod’s short, frightening vignette about the summer poolside backbiting of pubescent girls—and staging it with real teens, no less—seems an act of LaButian perversion. But while the cast of young ladies I saw (there are two that alternate) didn’t match Golden and Stojak in technique, they were still excellent and brought an emotional nakedness that can’t be faked."