Chicago Tribune - Somewhat Recommended
"...The play is by Chicago writer Beth Kander and called "The Bottle Tree." It's a far more modest and traditionally structured affair, and the intermittently lethargic production, directed by Amy Szerlong, would be infinitely better if it evidenced higher stakes, along with more pace and energy, especially in transitions. But "The Bottle Tree," which Stage Left developed itself and is named for the folk-art tradition of putting cobalt glass bottles on the branches of a tree to influence the spirits, is a sincere, non-condescending and compassionate piece of writing about a topic demonstrably on a lot of writers' minds."
Chicago Reader - Somewhat Recommended
"...Amy Szerlong's Stage Left Theatre production slowly creates a convincing and rich character portrait. Too much, though, gets lost behind its central poetic visual metaphor, and flashback scenes can't overcome the stagnating effect of therapist couch back-and-forths."
Windy City Times - Highly Recommended
"...Director Amy Szerlong's microcosmic approach to Allison's recollections and subsequent conclusions likewise rejects stereotypes-don't expect any shiny automatic weapons or stealth cannons in this Stage Left production. While the lessons of great-aunt Myrna ( played by the always formidable Kathleen Ruhl ) may reflect attitudes outdated today, there is no denying their validity as a response to their times. Whether you regard firearms as evil destroyers of innocents ( sometimes true ) or noble guardians of the meek and oppressed ( also sometimes true ), whether you shudder at the thought of teenagers operating shooting irons-while making exception for combat soldiers and Ralphie Parker's Daisy rifle-if you wear your opinions like body armor, you do well to leave them at the door of this latest in the 30 world-premiere plays making their debut in Chicago this fall."
Time Out Chicago - Recommended
"...Well, you’ve got to cut something, or everything suffers. This is a play about a school shooter’s sister, but also about gun culture, and about parenting, and grief, and personal responsibility, and our cultural response to tragedy, and friendship, and fear, and all kinds of other things. All of it works (including the efforts of designers Katherine Arfken, Matt Kooi, and others), but there’s little room for any individual story to breathe. The Bottle Tree has plenty of things going for it, but breathing room isn’t one of them."
ChicagoCritic - Recommended
"...Katherine Acosta, as Alley and Kathleen Ruhl, as Myrna lead a cast that nicely present a picture of the rural past myths and the contemporary view of the gun culture that exists in America. Somehow the mental state of some individuals and guns don’t mix too well. The Bottle Tree demonstrates the volatile nature of the gun culture. Receiving your first gun should not be a right-of-passage for children. Consequences of that culture is too dangerous for society.The Bottle Tree makes a good case for abolishing guns without preaching against guns. This play is worthy of an audience."
Around The Town Chicago - Recommended
"...During its many years of developing new works, Stage Left Theatre has premiered a number of plays which make a nuanced examination of a current controversy. The latest, The Bottle Tree by local playwright Beth Kander, is the last play to be developed under the artistic leadership of Vance Smith, but is directed by one of his successors, Amy Szerlong. Like The Burials, the recent Steppenwolf for young adults show, The Bottle Tree is about the sister of a school shooter trying to put her life back together. However, while The Burials was modeled on Antigone, The Bottle Tree eschews traditional plotting. Instead, we see fragments of the life of the main character presented out of chronological sequence, creating a contemplative mosaic."
Third Coast Review - Recommended
"...Amy Szerlong’s direction brings out fine performances by the cast. Acosta has a wrenching role to perform as the sister of a shooter, as does Gorman as his mother. In Katherine Arfken’s effective bare-bones scenic design, the bottle tree sits at the side of the stage . From time to time, a character removes or replaces a bottle, suggesting change in the story of people haunted by gun tragedy."
NewCity Chicago - Somewhat Recommended
"...In its quest for charitable impartiality, “The Bottle Tree” often feels like it doesn’t exactly know what it wants to say. Kander’s play, a world premiere, clearly means well and is nothing if not fair. Nevertheless, there are problems. The final moments are too on-the-nose. Moreover they come out of nowhere. Yet, the play could afford to be more contentious over all and with some diligence could evolve into a thornier and more challenging work that retains its sympathies for those to whom the Second Amendment may be more important than the one that precedes it. The alternative is to do away with the framing device altogether and focus on the atmosphere of tragedy and the slippery subject of responsibility."
