Chicago Tribune - Somewhat Recommended
"...At 80 minutes and very with much an urbane, New York City point of view, this feels more like a theater for young audiences piece. Certainly, it’s aimed squarely at middle school and high school kids who will recognize its core characters, conflicts and themes and won’t have that “well, they are teenagers and they’ll get over that after they go to college” reflex. I hope Writers is able to find that crew and coax them to the theater. They’d appreciate how the piece is intense, honest and never driven to condescend."
Chicago Reader - Recommended
"...But what's lovely about Gardner's play is how skillfully it intertwines the anxieties and doubts common to all adolescents with the growing confidence of the two as friendly competitors. The precise fight choreography of David Blixt and Christian Kelly-Sordelet, which plays out on Arnel Sancianco's cool minimalist runway set (it almost feels like a Holodeck from Star Trek, particularly in combination with Paul Toben's stark white lighting), provides cunning physical metaphors for the ways they get close, pull back, and meet each other head-on."
Chicago On the Aisle - Somewhat Recommended
"...Gracie Gardner’s “Athena,” at Writers, is a coming of age play about two teenage girls who share a passion for fencing. Both are counting on their skill to win them a college scholarship, a way up and out of their lower middle-income lives to a rosy future. One of the girls, Mary Wallace (played by Aja Singletary), is Black. She’s very bright, a serious student and comes from strict parenting; she’s also inexperienced in the world, not exactly reclusive but not socially outgoing, either."
Let's Play Theatrical Reviews - Somewhat Recommended
"...Unfortunately, there is no intriguing storyline to follow, and most of the fencing done in full attire doesn't add much substance to the story. And with no in-depth focus on why the girls are struggling through adolescence, these two girls' lives are nothing more than your ordinary juvenile growing pains."
Around The Town Chicago - Recommended
"...There are times one sees a production where the performances are wonderful, the direction is perfection and the experience, one to remember, yet, it is not a production you would suggest your best friend must see! In my case, since his son was a fencer ( not one who puts up fences, but one who duels and crosses swords/foils in competition), I might. Writers Theatre is known for bringing us unique works for stage and I must say that "Athena" is just that. Written by Gracie Gardner, "Athena" is a play about two high school girls, as different as one can imagine, but who share one love, "fencing" and the desire to win."
Chicago Theatre Review - Recommended
"...Two very different young women, Athena (the name she’s chosen for herself as a professional moniker), as portrayed by Mary Tilden, is bold, brazen and seemingly blase about needing anyone or anything else in her life except fencing. Mary Wallace, spunky and smart, is played by Aja Singletary with a deep desire to fit in. She’s all about honesty, needing to please others and just being a good person. Athena wants to stand out, while Mary Wallace just wants to fit in. Both girls are typical teenagers, temperamental and tortured by a need to be liked, but both young women simply want to learn all that life can teach them. "
NewCity Chicago - Recommended
"...Recreational fencing is an apt metaphor for the kinds of relationships where friends unrelentingly challenge each other. It isn't lethal; the pains sting a lot but there are pads and restraints that block participants from inflicting deep, permanent damage. There can be a kind of spoken or unspoken erotic charge to the duels. The two seventeen-year-old women fencers in "Athena," by playwright Gracie Gardner, are training for a national tournament in the belief that victory can lead to admission to top colleges and possibly to the Olympic team."
