Chicago Tribune - Somewhat Recommended
"...Laney is the story's center — she is the connective tissue between the only other characters in the play — but once Maribel enters the picture, she hijacks the proceedings, and frankly this is good news for Sandy Shinner's production. This girl is weird, great company. Genuine and genuinely lost, there is more to this teenager than meets the eye — more pain, but also more depth and more complexity — and Hannah Gomez gives her the kind, winsome personality of a pet dog unsure if it is going to get hit or stroked."
Chicago Reader - Recommended
"...Shinner's actors deliver some of the most beautifully modulated and revealing work I've seen onstage in months. Tara Mallen's Elise evolves from a wisecracking, hip single mom to a woman terrified of losing her daughter to the same malignant spirits that claimed her husband. Rae Gray's Laney is near-perfect as a mercurial, awkward teen who lashes out at mom in part because she knows that's the one person who won't abandon her. And Hannah Gomez is at once captivating and heartbreaking as Maribel, a plain, ingratiating girl who's smarter than the world thinks but still can't find a way to articulate her pain—to make visible the emotional stigmata ripping into her heart and soul. Crooked provides an unflinching dissection of the terrors that shadow so many teenage girls but are seldom depicted honestly in the theater or onscreen."
Windy City Times - Recommended
"...Rae Gray and Hannah Gomez replicate the hesitant curiosity of adolescent females with poignant accuracy, while Tara Mallen conveys just the right level of abject ambivalence in the thankless role of Elise, aka Mommy Clueless. The configuration of technical elements to the dimensions of Rivendell's storefront have improved with this second show (though Regina Garcia's handwriting-covered walls push the scenic design to the edge of precocity), rendering this early-summer production a patently servicable excuse to explore the burgeoning Edgewater Arts District."
Centerstage - Recommended
"...This show has a lot of wonderful qualities, from the witty dialogue to the poignant performances. Gomez in particular is so mercilessly heartbreaking that I became angry with her for making me sad on purpose."
Time Out Chicago - Recommended
"...Catherine Trieschmann’s incisive 2005 work spreads its sympathies evenly among its three characters. Though one suspects Elise’s worldview is closest to her own, the playwright shows empathy for religion’s appeal, and gives Elise flaws of her own. Sharp-witted young actor Rae Gray finds the gradations behind Laney’s mercurial mood swings and casual falsehoods. When she declares to her mother that she’s both saved and gay, a “holiness lesbian,” Gray imbues the assertion with teenage momentousness. Tara Mallen is equally terrific as the loving but flailing Elise, afraid to acknowledge what she recognizes in Laney’s erratic behavior. Hannah Gomez plays the tricky role of troubled Maribel a bit flatly; she and director Sandy Shinner haven’t yet fully solved Maribel’s actions in Trieschmann’s thorny, sudden ending."
ChicagoCritic - Recommended
"...Laney’s journey to reinvent herself is filled with much humor, raw arguments and some poignantly tender moments of self discovery. Maribel is the empathetic emotional center of this three person show. Much happens during the fast paced 80 minute one act. Spiritual, sexual and self-acceptance conflict as Laney and Maribel battle their inner demons in an effort to find love and acceptance. I’m sure that girls and mothers can relate to this well-written and expertly acted play better than I can. Hannah Gomez, Rae Gray, and Tara Mallen each gave strong and emotionally wrenching performances.Rivendell’s new space is spiffy."
Chicago Stage and Screen - Recommended
"...Director Sandy Shinner does fine work with the three cast members. The show features lovely designs by Regina Garcia (set), Janice Pytel (costumes), Christopher Kriz (sound), and Diane D. Fairchild (lights). The show looks handsome and feels right in Rivendell's nicely appointed new home on Ridge. "Crooked" offers tender insights into mothers and daughters, religion and education. If you have not been to Rivendell, I recommend making the trip to look through those windows to spend time with a family that may be not unlike yours."
Let's Play at ChicagoNow - Highly Recommended
"...Playwright Catherine Trieschmann is in the house and the heads of these real characters. Trieschmann starts us down a seemingly ordinary path, mom-daughter struggle. The angst is familiar. The dialogue is funny. The daughter is insolent. And the mom is human. Then, Trieschmann heaps on the backstories and it gets twisted....really twisted. Under the masterful direction of Sandy Shinner, this sublime trio completely engage the audience. We are bonded to each of these women’s pain."
