Chicago Tribune - Recommended
"...The cast includes an extremely watchable Kate Black as a Goth girl who makes the moves on Justin. The way she picks him up in a bar—riffing on Eminem and God—is a model of layered acting. Where the play lacks subtlety, Black makes up for it with the smallest of looks that comes over her face the moment she decides to follow Justin into the sack. Restraint was never so expressive."
Chicago Reader - Highly Recommended
"...Everything--even the surprises--unfolds efficiently, and the characters are neatly tooled to serve the mechanism rather than the other way around. Normally this would drive me crazy. But Gionfriddo's awfully clever in an acid way, so after a while I stopped worrying, for instance, about the implausible articulateness of teenage Justin--who becomes a celebrity when his mother is murdered--and simply started enjoying it."
Windy City Times - Highly Recommended
"...Even if the casting isn't perfect, Stage Left's After Ashley is still a must see. Gionfriddo gets you thinking seriously while laughing all the time."
Centerstage - Highly Recommended
"...Plocharczyk’s performance as wise pup is stellar, but the entire cast keeps his pace (and that set by director Greg Werstler). "After Ashley" reminds us that, while compassion has its place, there will always be "bad apples," answers lie most often in shades of gray—and victims are never the "angels" that they appear to be."
Edge - Highly Recommended
"...This script is starkly well-crafted and remarkably executed. And for the true "lefties" out there, this production can serve as fodder reflection, acknowledgement of one’s own process of shame, grief and obsession with outside sources for self-soothing and debate about the balancing act in issues such as grief and service and family dynamics."
Time Out Chicago - Somewhat Recommended
"...In the opening scene, playwright Gionfriddo creates an immensely appealing dynamic between Justin and his mom; her later absence is a shame in more ways than one. Nothing that follows feels nearly as organic. As the play lurches awkwardly from one scene to the next, it becomes clear the playwright is more interested in commentary—insightful and funny though it may be—than in her characters."
ChicagoCritic - Highly Recommended
"...After Ashley is as off-beat as comedy can get, but the humor is accessible to all. It makes its point without being preachy and delivers touching human moments that are rare for a show this funny. This is a quality production with tremendous finesse."
Chicago Stage and Screen - Somewhat Recommended
"...After Ashley is over two hours with a brief intermission. It can get a little long and wordy in some spots, a little too much like a real life and the balance between the story of the disturbed teenager and the outrageous media frenzy hangs by a slender thread. Plocharczyk’s good performance emphasizes humanity. The insanity is underrepresented."
