Chicago Tribune - Somewhat Recommended
"...I suppose the issues with this elliptical but potentially quite beauitful show come down to our ability, or lack thereof, to empathize with these parents and children even though they're dealing with issues not dissimilar from our own. Some of the show is mannered — a temptation when a piece is off-beat in the way that Kolvenbach writes. But Kolvenbach clearly wants us to think about the push-and-pull of all parental relationships."
Chicago Sun Times - Recommended
"...Sensitively directed by Damon Kiely, the show features a starry cast comprised of two veteran Chicago A-listers (Francis Guinan, fresh from “The Herd” at Steppenwolf, and Shannon Cochran, right on the heels of her stunning portrayal of Regina in the Goodman’s “The Little Foxes), alongside two younger actors (Alex Stage and Tyler Meredith) who more than hold their own beside the masters."
Windy City Times - Recommended
"...John Kolvenbach has always been fond of adults behaving like preteens, so it's no surprise that much of his play is devoted to Leo and Margaret parading their immaturity with, respectively, fumbling humility and flinty defiance. ( The latter's practice of shrugging off contradictions in her testimony with a casual "so I lied," soon grows more annoying than endearing. ) To be sure, they are played in this Route 66 production by Frances Guinan and Shannon Cochran, both of whom have been portraying lovable variations on these personalities for most of their careers. Sharing the dysfunctional-family tropes are Alex Stage and Tyler Meredith, whose shy Albert and forthright Lucy poignantly convey the curiously detached emotional impetuosity so often observed in adolescents long accustomed to disappointment."
Time Out Chicago - Highly Recommended
"...Kolvenbach’s dialogue is an oddball delight. His characters don’t enter sentences through the front door. They enter them sideways, through the kitchen window. And those sentences sound best in the mouth of Shannon Cochran as Lucy’s mother, Margaret, whose bitter barbs and pearl necklace and florid hangovers seem air-lifted in from an Edward Albee play in the best possible way. As tragic as many of the moments in Goldfish are, the fact that Cochran and Guinan never share a scene is perhaps the greatest tragedy of all."
Chicago On the Aisle - Highly Recommended
"...Stammering, dodging and deflecting, Guinan's pathetic shell of a man and father conjures every rationale to justify the new mess he has created, the bleak place into which he has now cast his son. But Leo the gambler sees a longshot that feels like a good bet. And Guinan makes the play in a golden moment of dramatic grace."
ChicagoCritic - Highly Recommended
"...Playwright John Kolvenback (On An Average Day) likes to write about family dynamics. In his Chicago premiere of Goldfish, now in a wonderful acted production by Route 66 Theatre Company, Kolvenbach flips child rearing around so that the child raise the parent. We meet 19 year old Albert (a strong performance by Alex Stage) who has organized all the affairs necessary for his father and their household to survive while he attends college in Vermont. Leo (the terrific Francis Guinan) is the middle aged father, Leo, who has a problem. He is an uncontrolled addicted gambler. The ponies are his fixation. But since Albert has all the necessities of life organized and prescribed, Leo should do nicely. As long as he stops gambling. He promises Albert he is in control. Albert goes off to college."
Chicago Stage and Screen - Recommended
"...Overall, Goldfish is a solid and moving experience, one which is all the more powerful for its minimalism and intimacy. Those who like their theatre straightforward and unfussy will no doubt appreciate its subtle charms."
- Conor McShane and Leslie Hull
Around The Town Chicago - Highly Recommended
"...Sometimes, when we are sent press releases, and read the synopsis, we find that the person who did the press release may never have read or seen the play. I was a little shocked by the explanation of the Chicago Premiere of John Kolvenbach's "Goldfish", now being presented by Route 66 Theatre Company at their new home, The Greenhouse Theater Center. In the release they tell us that "this is a story of a young man who raises his father, then leaves home, meets a young woman, who undoes him etc. We raise our children to leave us, to walk out into the world. But then they do."."
