Chicago Tribune - Recommended
"...But much of the benefit of the show, which is consistently creative, inventive and admirably avoidant of the predictable, lies in its discovery of lesser known, or now forgotten, first ladies. As such, it's a great feminist piece to watch online with a young person, perhaps as part of your home-schooling regimen or maybe from a determination to explore a genre of political history that gets insufficient attention."
Chicago Sun Times - Highly Recommended
"...The job description of "first lady" has morphed between Martha and Melania, but in exploring the roles of the women who have held the title, several constants surface in the Neo-Futurists' "45 Plays for America's First Ladies." First, they rarely have much agency over their lives. Second, they are usually eclipsed by their husbands. But those are broad-brush strokes, and there is a good deal of intricacy in "First Ladies," a companion piece to 2004's "43 Plays for 43 Presidents" and 2012's "44 Plays for 44 Presidents.""
Chicago Reader - Highly Recommended
"...But it's not a Schoolhouse Rock series of biographies. Instead, the writers and performers (who include Neo-Futurists in the Bay Area and New York as well as Chicago) offer an exhilarating, funny, and sometimes very sobering portrait of what it means to be someone with no constitutionally sanctioned position in the U.S. government, but who is nonetheless expected to meet high standards of circumspection, graciousness, and to serve as, in effect, America's mother."
Chicago On Stage - Highly Recommended
"...A lovingly collaborative presentation, 45 Plays (which follows NeoFuturists' similar shows about the presidents) is directed by Denise Yvette Serna, a talented theatre practitioner and arts activist who has done shows with many Chicago area theatres. It will be available to view through Nov. 2, and it is certainly one of the first "don't miss" shows of the pandemic, a testament to this company's trademark ability to see theatre in new and exciting ways."
Picture This Post - Highly Recommended
"...Stellar ensemble and poignant storytelling make 45 Plays for American’s First Ladies a must-see. Given the close proximity to the election, the play brings to light histories that are more important than ever. Much as Serna explains in her program note, our work is not done, and this writer certainly appreciated the experience of learning, laughing, and feeling alongside the performers in this piece."
NewCity Chicago - Recommended
"...Perhaps trying to make theater right now is a lot like holding the title of First Lady: a complete afterthought and an impossible expectation. This is uncharted territory for a lot of artists right now, and we’re all messily navigating how to pivot an entire art form onto a new medium. So yes, anyone who is able to wholeheartedly and creatively make art right now (especially art that can find links to our current moment of political unease) should be applauded, and so I do for the Neos and for “45 Plays…” Even if this particular effort didn’t pull me in as much as I had hoped, I still recommend checking out what the Neos have to offer. They’re meeting our moment as deftly as one can these days."
