Corazon de Manzana Reviews

Chicago Reader - Somewhat Recommended

"...Formby is a smart, sensitive writer, and elements of Jason Boat's staging pack a wallop. But the focus here feels backward: side issues like body image and the Canadian girl's budding sexuality overwhelm the central horror, which is presented too coyly in a fairy-tale scenario. The character in the most obvious emotional distress--Mazi's mother--deserves more of a backstory than Formby provides."

Windy City Times - Somewhat Recommended

"...It's not enough for Formby to be interested in her subject or passionate about it if she can't convey information to us with force and clarity. She and director Jason Boat use visual tools of theater very well (video, choreography, lighting), and I have no complaints about the performers. But I can't see the pattern in this patchwork quilt in which poetical and political don't mix effectively, and the storyline don't solidly connect."

Time Out Chicago - Somewhat Recommended

"...The message here—that the lives of a bunch of poor brown women are as cheap and dispensable as the merchandise they produce—has understandably pissed off playwright Dana Lynn Formby. Her play clearly means to take Americans and Canadians to task for their complacency. In alternating scenes, we get to know three families, one from each NAFTA country. In Ontario, a mother struggles to combat her daughter’s body image issues and ready her for college. In Utah, a women’s studies professor researches the Juárez femicide as her blue-collar sister and young niece grapple with money woes."

Chicago Theatre Addict - Recommended

"...this is one bold and important play (just wait for the gut-punching final scenes), and it’s exactly the type of work we need more of in this city. If I seem overly critical in this review, it’s just because I believe this play has the potential to make waves. I encourage you to see it and get the conversation started about this tragic and timely topic."

ChicagoCritic - Somewhat Recommended

"...It seems that playwright Dana Lynn Formby tried to dramatize the plight of the missing women to the organ trade in North America. She tries to make a connection between suffering and privilege in the three countries but her underdeveloped story wastes too much time on theatricality and not enough on developing the wholesale murder of women in Jaurez, Mexico. Corazan de Manzana need to be refocused to make a stronger case about the multiple murders in Mexico."

Let's Play at ChicagoNow - Highly Recommended

"...Feeling the play’s impact and describing it in three words, Tom: ‘elliptical, powerful, tragic’ and Jen: ‘powerful & emotive choreography.’"