Chicago Tribune - Somewhat Recommended
"...Shinner's production is reasonably solid — all three of these actors are very capable players and each have their moments — but it can't make you believe in a rough-going play not funny enough to be entertaining nor dramatic enough to be real."
Chicago Sun Times - Somewhat Recommended
"...The play has some funny moments (particularly a riff on the downfall of the Chevy, delivered by a superbly droll Zacek), and some nice bits of business (notably Zacek’s rendering of a tutorial on the drinking of Scotch). And Still gives us some telling observations about the state of the job market these days, with Johnson capturing Roy’s bitterness at losing out to a college grad for a greeter’s job atWalmart."
Windy City Times - Recommended
"...Much of this emerges so subtlely in this American Blues Theater production as to be undetectable by any but the most alert playgoers, while other questions remain unanswered, even after an undeniably sentimental dawn arrives for our trio. As the story's chief instigator, Howie Johnson's Roy sometimes fumbles a role demanding greater stamina than was evidenced on opening night, leaving veteran trouper Dennis Zacek's Wallace to steer our sympathies toward his hoggish nemesis. Ultimately, it is lost-American-boy Cody, which Steve Key plays with quiet stoicism, who wins our hearts—when he storms out to continue his flight from a past delivering only sorrow and disappointment, we long to follow him."
Centerstage - Somewhat Recommended
"... The script leapfrogs from theme to theme, creating an unfocused narrative and leaving a disjointed portrait of characters that luxuriate in their painful nostalgia and that the audience doesn’t have any reason to particularly like. It’s a play that tries too hard with characters that try too little. Wallace and Cody attempt to teach Roy that there’s only hope in the loss of hope, an adoption of apathy, and the sole consolation in life is a bit of company. Depressing, right?"
Stage and Cinema - Recommended
"...Sandy Shinner’s direction makes the most of Still’s often sharp dialogue, and maximizes the flashpoint conflicts that pop up from time to time."
ChicagoCritic - Not Recommended
"...I’d like to know more about Wallace since he was the only one who made me laugh. Illegal Use of Hands is a long, tedious, wondering affair devoid of humor. It is , indeed, a loser. Don’t give up on American Blues Theater, they usually mount terrific shows."
Chicago Stage and Screen - Somewhat Recommended
"...Nothing much happens here because, well, nothing much happens here. That doesn’t give three perfectly cast, totally committed performances much to work with, however perfectly calibrated in drive and desperation by the always excellent Sandy Shinner. More than once the question arises: “Why are these guys even together except that they’re in a play with one set?” That’s not a good question to ask before a show is even over."
Around The Town Chicago - Somewhat Recommended
"...Directed by Sandy Shinner of a stunningly accurate set(Grant Sabin) that could easily be the home of a recluse, loner in the middle of rural America, there is sme powerful character building but a somewhat weak script. Shinner and her cast do the best with the material, but there are some missing pieces in this 80 plus minutes of dark comedy. The fight sequences ( Derek Gaspar and Chris Rickett) are done well and the props assembled by Eileen Rozycki are amazing. The fact is with all the “stuff” on stage, it is amazing that during the fights no one gets killed. Lindsay Jones music and sound are effective and Charlie Cooper’s lights are well done. There are some lighting flashes that are meant to take us back in time to the football stadium, but they are not as effective as they might have been as the script really doesn’t take us there!"
