Chicago Tribune - Recommended
"...Smith's touches are subtle — he mostly just lets his actors live inside their intense characters. But as the play wends on, and facades crack, you can see how well he has cast the play, and how aptly he has interpreted the feelings of a writer he knows uncommonly well."
Chicago Sun Times - Recommended
"...Diamond's play covers largely unexplored turf, and, to her credit, she was ahead of her time - bold enough to explore this territory before Barack Obama arrived in the White House, and before Colson Whitehead penned his novel, "Sag Harbor," which deals with similar aspects of race and class. Subtle her play is not, as one outburst and revelation follows another in quick succession. But it opens a window on a segment of American society too often ignored."
Chicago Reader - Somewhat Recommended
"...The design is ingenious, and Diamond excavates numerous fascinating, troubling complexities of being accomplished, wealthy and African-American in contemporary America. But her theatrical skills can’t keep pace with the play’s intellectual demands, let alone the complicated network of backstories among her characters, and too often her diagrammatic scenes display more dramaturgical convenience than dramatic urgency (Chuck Smith’s methodical, rhythmically unvarying direction exacerbates the script’s general stasis). The cascading implosions of the soap operatic finale feel especially forced."
Windy City Times - Highly Recommended
"...The Windy City Playhouse is shaped more along the lines of a cocktail lounge than a traditional auditorium, but Chuck Smith, who directed this play's premiere at Congo Square in 2006, refuses to configure his material to the patterns of frivolous tired-businessman comedy. Under his guidance, a palpably intelligent cast led by Philip Edward Van Lear as the intractable Levay sire and Paige Collins as an unlikely Cinderella navigate their personae's progress with never a stumble or misstep. The result was that even the sometimes foreseeable plot complications elicited audible testimony from a final preview audience whose investment in the action onstage remained undiminished by the sumptuous surroundings."
Time Out Chicago - Highly Recommended
"...Phillip Edward Van Lear, reprising his role from the Congo Square production, is commanding as paterfamilias Dr. Levay, while Celeste M. Cooper is a jittery bundle of nerves as the etymologist fiancee of his son Kent, played by Tyrone Phillips. Kristen Magee shines as the white girlfriend of Kent's callow plastic surgeon brother, Flip (Michael Pogue), and Paige Collins brings verve and vulnerability as Cheryl, the family's black housekeeper's daughter."
ChicagoCritic - Highly Recommended
"...Kudos to the creatives at the Windy City Playhouse for remounting this fine play. Stick Fly is a worthy look at the sophisticated wealthy family that happens to be Black. That fact alone gives Stick Fly an underlying power. We don't often hear that point of view expressed in theatre. Lydia R. Diamond is an amazing talent and terrific storyteller whose works need to be back on Chicago stages. See Stick Fly to experience a unique theatre craftsman at work. Seeing a play at the Windy City Playhouse is a special, warm experience. The ambiance, drinks, the seats, etc. are all first class and their play selection is excellent making a trip to 3014 W. Irving Park a fun event!"
Chicago Stage and Screen - Recommended
"...Windy City Playhouse is here and it has come out swinging this season with an immensely passionate and funny sophomore production of Lydia R. Diamond's Stick Fly. While there may be times where you find yourself predicting the action, a phenomenal cast of actors with an outstanding director will keep you entertained the whole time."
Around The Town Chicago - Highly Recommended
"...The technical part of the production is seamless allowing the story to take the lead with the audience. Jared Gooding’s lights, Ray Nardelli’s sound, Cassy Schillo’s properties and Kristy Leigh Hall’s costumes work well with the Penrod’s set, but it is the stellar cast under the slick, caring direction of Smith that brings this latest version of Ms. Diamond’s “Stick Fly” to its shining brilliance."
Chicago Theatre Review - Recommended
"...Stick Fly is enjoyable and keeps you interested. The relationships are familiar, but echos of misunderstood emotions, and the idea of "how things have always been" is challenged and dissected. We may never understand the winners, the losers, and those just trying to be understood."
