Chicago Tribune - Recommended
"...What I admire most about "Bootycandy" is that O'Hara is a gifted writer. His 2010 riff on "A Raisin in the Sun," "Etiquette of Violence," was a masterful piece, every bit as profound as the Pulitzer Prize-winning "Clybourne Park" and with more heart. But he is not A-list famous, not a darling of critics, nor, I suspect, rich. Thus this is a work of confession and self-exploration by a middle-age writer who endures bitter frustrations — flowing from the persistence of the scars of his youth and the ever-growing number of young people who do not know all he has done with his God-given booty."
Chicago Reader - Somewhat Recommended
"...Playwright and director Robert O'Hara revives his 2011 play for this Windy City Playhouse season premiere, consisting of semi-autobiographical vignettes about growing up queer and black. It's the most provocative and assertive work to come out of the young company to date; it's also an incredibly frustrating hodgepodge of compelling story fragments and overbaked sketch comedy."
Windy City Times - Recommended
"...Occasionally, the central figure also is the playwright, reflecting the autobiographical element. Bootycandy is very smart and often funny but it's not a happy play. Part of its subtext is sex as an extension of racism ( both white and Black ), a veritable psychosexual minefield. You end up with a conflicted man finding little comprehension within the Black community but clearly aware that crossing sexual/racial lines can lead to sometimes-mutual exploitation."
Time Out Chicago - Highly Recommended
"...But while Bootycandy isn't a traditional theatrical narrative, it's also far from academic exercise. In Windy City Playhouse's Chicago premiere, directed by O'Hara, it's bitingly funny, provocative, uncomfortable and engrossing. From Osiris Khepera's fiery sermon about alleged homosexuals in the church choir and Krystel McNeil and Debrah Neal's jokey, multicharacter telephone sketch, O'Hara quickly establishes we're in for an evening as uproarious as it is interrogative. Rob Fenton shows off his range with an array of characters often set up in opposition to the indispensable Travis Turner, in the role representing a version of O'Hara himself; Turner's innate intelligence and charm are necessary leavening for some of O'Hara's more abrasive moves. With an intersectional, unpredictable view of finding a way to fit into the world, Bootycandy is sweet and tart, with plenty to chew on."
ChicagoCritic - Not Recommended
"...In summary, Robert O’Hare’s semi-autobiography, Bootycandy, isn’t funny but more of a satirical insult. His scenes run repetitiously long and his characters are stereotypical mockeries of back folks including the strong black mother, the outspoken grandmother and the hypocritical reverend. This show has an infinite appetite for foul language and crude sexual references. There is little to emphasize here. I can’t imagine who the audience is for this show?"
Around The Town Chicago - Not Recommended
"...Tonight, I attended the Chicago premiere of a play written and directed by Robert O’Hara, entitled “Booty Candy”. The press release made this sound like something that would be filled with satirical comedy that would be frank, funny and unpredictable. Knowing the quality that Amy and her staff have sought out from day one, I expected this to be a show that ,despite its title, would be up to their standards. I was wrong!"
Chicago Theatre Review - Recommended
"...Robert O’Hara’s unabashedly adult entertainment plays like a series of comedy sketches that eventually blend into a single, revealing story. His somewhat biographic recollection, peppered with hyperbolic humor, offers a bitter condemnation of what it’s like to grow up gay in the African American community. There’s plenty of sugar, lots of spice and even a dash of hot sauce in this buffet of buffoonery. Everyone on stage has a field day of funniness that may surprise and even shock, but the audience will never forget their evening with Sutter, his friends and family."
Buzznews.net - Highly Recommended
"...The cast works extremely well together, Turner leading the way. Five actors in this winning play act as several different characters, each providing a strong performance."
Picture This Post - Highly Recommended
"...Bootycandy is unarguably unique. Windy City Playhouse has done all it can to add to the atmosphere of the play by using its physical space to keep the audience almost on top of the production and, at times, uses the audience itself as a prop. The experience of having this staggeringly funny dialogue wash over you is an experience, whether you enjoy it or not, that will not be forgotten."
NewCity Chicago - Highly Recommended
"...Performed on a stripped down, cabaret-style set (designed by Katie Bell Kenney), "Bootycandy" is never coy and (almost) never pretentious. Instead it is loud, and raucous and crass and defiant-oh, and it's also uproariously funny."
