Making God Laugh at Theatre At The Center

Chicago Sun Times - Recommended

"...This upbeat look at family follows Jimmy and Ruthie as they celebrate holidays with their three children through three decades. “Making God Laugh” begins on Thanksgiving 1980 as the kids — Richard, Maddie and Thomas — arrive to celebrate the holiday. The next time we see the family, it is Christmas 1990, and Richard talks about how real estate is the best investment because it always goes up and how he plans to invest in the “dot-com miracle.” That look back at predictions is hilarious. It’s a riot to hear how mistaken so many of us were about the future."

Chicago Stage Review - Highly Recommended

"...With an all-star cast performing a hot new script, Making God Laugh is a delightful, at times poignant, dramedy. This is a story of life’s changes of direction, the role reversals of parents and children, the primacy of the reality of now versus the memories of the past and the predictions of the future, and the importance of a family breaking bread together. As Groucho Marx said (if the interwebs can be trusted in such matters), “I’m not crazy about reality, but it’s still the only place to get a decent meal.”"

ChicagoCritic - Recommended

"...From Peggy Roeder’s Edith Bunker-esque turn as the mother, to Craig Spidle’s copacetic father to Joe Foust’s flamboyant loser son to Erin Noel Grennan’s liberated woman persona to Kevin McKillip’s saintly priest – we empathize with the foibles of this honestly presentation of the ‘average’ middle class American family. This family could be our family, that’s why their peculiarities could be ours. What family doesn’t have to endure a terrible dish from a relative? Fantasia dip anyone? You’ll laugh plenty at this honest, well staged family comedy."

Around The Town Chicago - Highly Recommended

"...It is often stated that live theater is supposed to entertain as well as spread a message, and in the the Chicago premiere of “Making God Laugh” written by Sean Grennan, now onstage at Theatre at The Center in Munster, we have a play that does just that. This production that is produced along with First Folio Theatre, we are given a heartwarming comedy about a Catholic family and their lives over a period from 1980 through present day in four scenes, each ten years apart. Grennan is a local boy ( Oak Park) and to have hos work play in the area with two theaters involved, is a delight for him."