Chicago Tribune - Highly Recommended
"...If you know you are seeing a play about the Bland case, you might have anticipated some of the above. But I doubt you will expect such beautiful monologues about love, and the diminishing of the soul that comes with its sudden absence. The relationship between Janelle and Brian is not only written with complexity but it takes on a kind of imperative quality that, in the theater, makes you pull for its perpetuation and fear for its loss. Many political writers struggle to dramatize romantic love; "Graveyard Shift" has both anger at what happens and the ability to articulate (to anyone who is listening) the profundity of the human loss. As with "Sheepdog," this play would contribute greatly to officer education, if someone at the Chicago Police Department would only take that risk."
Chicago Sun Times - Recommended
"...tuttle's script is at its best when he focusses on Janelle, whom Hicks embodies with magnificence and complexity. She's a warrior, whether sending out resumes or negotiating the terms of her relationship with her beloved partner Kane (Debo Balogun, utterly recognizable as man whose love is as all-powerful as the woman he adores). Both are struggling to negotiate the aftershocks of college: The job search is filled with rejection. He doesn't want to propose while he's buried in post-college debt. When she gets a job offer at her alma mater in Prairie View, the couple finds itself at the corner of joy and reckoning."
Daily Herald - Highly Recommended
"...All of them, including supervisor Trish, are yearning, frustrated, resentful and unfulfilled. They express themselves in sometimes showy monologues seamlessly staged by Taymor and skillfully delivered by her rock-solid cast. Balogun's performance is deeply felt while Gallagher's reflects a fundamentally good-natured man whose iron heart and lack of self-control set a tragedy in motion."
Chicago Reader - Highly Recommended
"...The play vacillates between traditional storytelling methods and lyrical, poetic stylings for occasionally on the nose, yet usually smart and impactful, effect. When Janelle and Kane playfully sing the lyrics "Say my name, when no one is around you, say baby I love you" it takes on a sickening double meaning when contrasted with Brian and Elise rocking out to rap music, singing the "N-word" with impunity, knowing that the PC police cannot mandate empathy in the graveyard of shadowy hearts. #SayHerName."
Time Out Chicago - Highly Recommended
"...The exact circumstances of Bland’s death are a mystery that graveyard shift preserves, opting instead for a moment of mystical grace. When it returns to earth in the final scene, the play stumbles a bit, as though struggling to find words beyond pat reassurance. When faced with the world that graveyard shift captures—so cruel, so wonderful, so irreconcilably both—what is left to say?"
Stage and Cinema - Somewhat Recommended
"...It’s a shame: graveyard shift (the title more metaphorical than factual) could have been really interesting. But mister tuttle settled for speeches instead of a story. Of course it’s the worst wishful thinking to pretend that there could ever be common ground between two of these characters and the other three (though tuttle provides parallels). But, especially if that can’t happen, all five need to reach an audience. Despite good casting and persuasive performances, on opening night there were altogether too many closed eyes."
Let's Play at ChicagoNow - Recommended
"...Graveyard Shift, decision to add the personal lives of the officers diminishes the events of how devastating and demoralizing it was to learn about how a young lady who accepted a new job and excited about relocating to Texas; would commit suicide. Their stories, which seemed out of place, and some unnecessary scenes, felt like fillers lacking meaning. The cop that arrested Janelle (Sandra Bland) storyline lack relevance and needed more substance. The story behind Bland death is too powerful to dilute with casual conversations."
Around The Town Chicago - Recommended
"...One of the things that we need to advise you on is that this play has been in development with the Goodman for several years and is now ready to be truly shown. It is 100 minutes of story-telling that will keep you on the edge of your seat until the very end. As usual, I will not give away any of the end, but will tell you that different audience members will probably see the end differently than their neighbor. I was not impressed with the ending, yet the people next to me loved it. Often, interpretation by the viewer is important."
PicksInSix - Highly Recommended
"...The disparate worlds of Janelle and Brian intersect during the fateful traffic stop. It is here that tuttle's taut drama almost inexplicably spirals out of reach to a place where truth becomes stranger than fiction. The startling events and devastating consequences that follow tear at the fabric of the young woman's independent spirit. We're left to wonder how the potential for love between two people-"a single organism-four lungs, but one body, same skin"-was so tragically extinguished forever."
Picture This Post - Highly Recommended
"...GRAVEYARD SHIFT adds more depth to it's story as it also dives deeper into these relationships. We struggle with the extramarital affair between two police officers. We're swooning over the loving relationship between Janelle and Kane. In this writer's opinion, the emotions add that extra human element that bring us closer to the subject matter."