Chicago Tribune - Somewhat Recommended
"...Graham’s production is a generally solid, honest and sometimes moving staging of a very worthy piece of writing: it contains a couple of excellent performances in work by Patrick Byrnes, whose George/Valentina is the owner of the resort, and by Josh Marshall, as Michael/Gloria, and whose dynamic definition invigorates every scene. But the staging, which gets too stuck with trappings and other bits of business, often misses the inherent poetry in Fierstein’s writing."
Chicago Sun Times - Somewhat Recommended
"...But while "Casa Valentina" - now receiving its Chicago premiere in a Pride Films & Plays production - offers an intriguing portrait of gender transgressors in an era of rigid social boundaries, it shies away from really delving into the motivations behind their explorations."
Chicago Reader - Highly Recommended
"...In 2014, this was a cautionary tale about the shortcomings of queer legitimacy in what felt like a newly optimistic time. In 2019, it feels like a complete dismantling of the very notion of that legitimacy, an assertion that accepting the vastness of sex and gender will always be impossible within the confines of the fickle state."
Stage and Cinema - Highly Recommended
"...Fierstein covers a lot of controversial territory in 130 minutes. Moving beyond stereotypes by sheer truth-telling, Graham's nine actors are on top of every character quirk and plot permutation. We feel both the covert fun of seven playful aficionados in their rightful element and the protective paranoia that will ultimately end this transvestite sanctuary. Their Garden of Eden, it seems, hid one too many snakes."
Around The Town Chicago - Somewhat Recommended
"...With age comes wisdom — at least that is the hope regarding the careers of our most relevant writers. Over the course of the past four decades, Harvey Fierstein has made a significant mark on the theatre world, not only as a playwright but also as an actor. Very much like the prolific Spanish filmmaker Pedro Almodovar, Fierstein’s work has shifted from the outrageously flamboyant and campy humor of his early successes (the Tony Award-winning “Torch Song Trilogy” and the book of the musical “La Cage aux Folles”) to more serious and introspective works such as the book of the musical “Newsies” as well as his 2014 play “Casa Valentina,” which is receiving its Chicago premiere at Pride Films and Plays. The dominant theme that runs throw nearly all of Fierstein’s accomplishments is men in drag, of which “Casa Valentina” is no exception."
Chicago Theatre Review - Highly Recommended
"...Harvey Fierstein's 2014 play isn't entirely fictional. It's somewhat based upon an actual bungalow resort that once catered to transvestites, but is now a summer retreat for Hasidic families. A few of the characters are also based on the actual men who frequented this secret refuge. The Sorority is still in existence and is called The Society for the Second Self. In Pride Films & Plays' entertaining and enlightening new production, Michael D. Graham has directed a play that, despite the obvious misconception, isn't about drag queens or female impersonators. It's a heartfelt story that both entertains, stirs the emotions and gives audiences a great deal to think about as they leave the theatre."
Chicago On Stage - Recommended
"...All of the acting is strong here, undoubtedly brought out by Graham's thoughtful direction, which makes as much room for long quiet moments of reflection as it does to the playful solidarity and humor of the transvestites. Evan Frank's set design, though-an attempt to fit multiple locations within the main building of the resort into the Broadway Theatre's ballroom-ends up creating a very busy space crammed with thrift shop furniture that might have been better if it had been left more open instead of crowding five levels onto the stage. Still, even if Frank, like Fierstein, bites off a little more than he can chew, Casa Valentina remains a powerful, thoughtful glimpse into a little-known subculture."
TotalTheater - Highly Recommended
"...There are many reasons to see Harvey Fierstein's 2014 portrait of a summer resort in 1962 where buttoned-down het males could indulge their non-binary—as we call it in 2019—sensibilities in comfort and privacy. Not only does the author's status allow him to say whatever he damn well pleases (a claim nowadays shared by David Mamet), but it pleases him to parse the taxonomic nuances of gender-fluid expression more minutely than customary even today, and, in doing so, call out his fellow sexual outlaws for their capitulation to the bigotry of their oppressors."
Picture This Post - Recommended
"...If you are looking for a night of escapism this is not really your show. Instead, if you want to see a good thought provoking exploration of homophobia in a place you might not have imagined it flourished- at least for this cis-straight woman- this is a top pick for your time. That J. Edgar Hoover is somewhere in the background of this story sporting his signature red dress just adds to the pain of considering how cannibalism ruled the day - - and perhaps still does."
