Chicago Tribune - Not Recommended
"...Perchance you'll do better with this show than me, but when Melody starting seeing the ghost of her husband showing up in the window and waving sweetly, it was about all I could take to stay in my seat. There are a few honest moments when Brunstetter and Reardon combine to show us the very early moments of a relationship when your partner endlessly fascinates and entrances you, and it becomes easy to forget yourself. In those sections, there is some promise. But once the doorbell rings and mommy-in-law dearest enters, abandon all hope and flee for the stairs."
Chicago Sun Times - Somewhat Recommended
"...With her slender, blond, Kansas-bred looks, Reardon, onstage throughout, turns out to be a deceptively skilled actress who moves with girlish grace as she makes her character’s transformation as believable as possible. Hicks and Blackburn are well cast as the very different men in her life. But Moseley has misguidedly pushed Fay to play “the evil witch who finally melts” to the limit, and it nearly topples the play. Subtlety is always more effective."
Chicago Reader - Not Recommended
"...Playwright Bekah Brunstetter takes four longish scenes--roughly half this sluggish 90-minute drama--to establish what a better playwright could say in one: that hapless bride Melody bristles under her WASPy mother-in-law's condescending gaze, resents husband Craig's frequent absences from home, questions her marriage, and seems ready to dally with Craig's coworker."
Examiner - Somewhat Recommended
"...Despite some occasional bursts of evocative writing, Brunstetter never gives the audience much reason to care for any of these people. Further, by having Melody revisit the crash site, the playwright inserts a plot development that defies reality by asking the audience to believe that days after the accident, body parts would still be strewn about the wreckage . So it goes that for 90 minutes, Melody, Hope, Brad and Craig lurch through disconnected scenes without creating any dramatic tension or credibly connecting with each other."
Time Out Chicago - Somewhat Recommended
"...But the well-meaning script has major structural issues, weighed down by its quest for quirk; long passages set to tunes from Melody’s iPod feel designed to borrow meaning from the songs, and worse, Brunstetter’s timeline is fatally fuzzy. Actors who’ve dazzled me elsewhere, particularly sleepy-eyed charmer Reardon, are unable to gain a foothold here. Even director Anthony Moseley and set designer John Wilson seem as if they’re working a few notches below their usual game in this shoddily paced, visually flat production."
ChicagoCritic - Recommended
"...This 90 minute one-act blends humor, realism and pathos into a moving portrait of love, loss and temptation as we see Melody move from a flake into a strong women. She deals with the hostile demanding Hope (herself dealing with the loss of her husband and now her son) and she conquers advances form Craig’s young assistant Brad (Christian Blackburn). This work is an honest attempt to depict two women as they deal with a tragic situation. Meghan Reardon and Susan Fay gave outstanding performances steeped in reality. Be a Good Little Widow is a refreshing look into how two folks deal with loss. It is a fine production worth seeing."
Chicago Theater Beat - Somewhat Recommended
"...Be A Good Little Widow tries to be good and ends up being fine. There is a little humor, little drama and little romance. It’s a simple story that skims the surface of relationships and bereavement. Collaboraction is better known for BIG groundbreaking theatrical and art-based experiences. Be A Good Little Widow falls short of expectations. After a brief mourning period, I’ll be ready for their next show."
