Chicago Tribune
- Somewhat Recommended
"...The narrative of "Black Sunday" actually turns out to be strangely hard to follow, in this production at least, and director Helen Young's production never fully gels when it comes to creating deep relationships between the four characters: Pa, Ma (Mechelle Moe), their restless daughter Sunny (Angela Morris), a farm worker named Jesus (Christopher Alvarenga) and Jim (Vic Kuligoski), a preacher."
Chicago Sun Times
- Recommended
"...TimeLine Theatre’s final production in its East Lake View home of 25 years (the award-winning company expects to make its long-planned move to more spacious digs in Uptown by the start of next season) unfolds in early April 1935. Díaz sets her 90-minute drama deep in the heart of the Dust Bowl. On a small Texas farm devastated by drought, locusts and over-farming, “Black Sunday” explores two intertwined issues blazing with contemporary relevance: Climate change and immigration policy."
Chicago Reader
- Somewhat Recommended
"...There’s a lot of historical and psychological territory to cover in this 90-minute play, and Díaz certainly can’t be faulted for lack of ambition or vision. But in its current form, Black Sunday sometimes lives uneasily between allegory and realism."
Around The Town Chicago
- Highly Recommended
"...This play, developed as part of the Timeline ” Playwright’s Collective”, is a spell-binding 90 minutes of theater. It will take you back in history to a time that most of us didn’t realize existed in our country. Let’s face it, this was almost 100 years ago, a different time, a different world? Or was it? This production will certainly give you something to think about."
Chicago Theatre Review
- Recommended
"...Skillfully and passionately directed by Helen Young, whose excellent productions of TimeLine’s THE CHINESE LADY and WHAT THE CONSTITUTION MEANS TO ME dazzled audiences and critics alike, does a great job guiding this cast. The company of actors is first-rate. Prolific actress and director, not only with TimeLine but all over Chicago, Mechelle Moe is the star of this production. As Ma, Ms. Moe dominates the stage with her peppery and poignant performance. She certainly embodies a Depression Era Cassandra with her wild, wandering prophecies and plaintive cries."
Buzz Center Stage
- Somewhat Recommended
"...The story sounds terrific, but unfortunately it didn't play out on the stage. All five characters were essentially caricatures of archetypal characters, without any individual uniqueness or liaison with one another. The performances were superb but fragmented by rapid runs of brief scenes that blacked out as soon as they got close to showing us who the characters were."
PicksInSix
- Recommended
"...TimeLine Theatre Company’s world premiere production of “Black Sunday” written by Chicago playwright Dolores Díaz and directed by Helen Young, is a gripping drama about life in the harrowing days leading up to Sunday, April 14, 1935, when a dust bowl of epic proportions consumed the plains states with a devastating impact that reverberated across the nation."
NewCity Chicago
- Highly Recommended
"...George Santayana's remark that "those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it" remains as cogent a concept as ever. Plays like "Black Sunday," as educational as they are entertaining, are instrumental in communicating the human side of climate catastrophe. Whatever the weather, migrate to TimeLine Theatre to check out this gale-force of a show."
