Chicago Tribune - Somewhat Recommended
"...So you get a play here that is bringing up a crucial issue and, in places, you get some profoundly fine acting. What you don't yet get is believability: for example, the set, by Arnel Sancianco, is skeletal when the show demands either intense Chicago-style realism, or a richer symbolic environment. That hole in the floor has a use for the playwright - it allows her a window into the elderly poor without needing another actor - but it comes at a cost in terms of veracity. And Rothstein has yet to show us more context, more of a feeling of the cruel world outside."
Chicago Sun Times - Recommended
"...Playwright Sharyn Rothstein's new play "Landladies," which was commissioned by Northlight Theatre, was inspired by her reading of "Evicted," which profiles eight Milwaukee families like Arleen's, each of which struggles to stay in good standing with their landlords. But Desmond's book also looks at the landlords, those building owners who choose to rent to the most vulnerable classes of tenants, who may have evictions on their records, bad or no credit scores, and who may be willing to accept code-violating conditions of disrepair. These landlords might be just a few missed mortgage payments or unexpected repairs away from finding themselves in their own tenants' shoes."
Daily Herald - Recommended
"...Inspired by "Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City," Princeton University sociologist Matthew Desmond's Pulitzer Prize-winning account of eight impoverished Milwaukee families, "Landladies" centers on the relationship between two women: businesswoman and self-made slumlord Marti (Shanesia Davis) and her impoverished tenant Christine (Leah Karpel), a recently evicted single mom whose minimum-wage, fast-food job makes a decent apartment unaffordable. Orbiting around them is Poet (Julian Parker), Christine's unsettled, newly sober, sometime boyfriend."
Chicago Reader - Highly Recommended
"...As her motives slowly come into question, it becomes clear that Christine traded one manipulative relationship for another. The shades of grey painted by Rothstein's character development and McLeod's visceral direction are a thought-provoking delight to watch."
Let's Play at ChicagoNow - Recommended
"...Landladies main focus, however, is the relationship between the two ladies and their very different and yet similar lifestyles. The message about life decisions and how they affect our future is a universal message but delightful portrayed in this play."
Around The Town Chicago - Recommended
"...The play is 90 minutes with no intermission and works at telling us a story that should cause us to think. To think about the life we are lucky not to have , or have had. I recall my own experience as a young boy when we "broke a lease" and faced eviction. I came home from school with my brothers only to find our "stuff" on the lawn. Our case was different. We had a truck waiting to move it all to our new home, in the suburbs, but most of these situations do not end up that way. Those evicted go too family for assistance or end up homeless. Often through no fault of their own. I did not stay for the discussion, but I suggest you do. I am sure it will be a learning experience."
WTTW - Highly Recommended
"...The most obvious moral of the story in Sharyn Rothstein’s “Landladies” – the edgy new play now receiving a tense and compelling world premiere production at Northlight Theatre under the taut direction of Jess McLeod – is this: “Neither a landlady nor a tenant be.” (Apologies to Shakespeare.) But that is far too simplistic a description of this compact, emotionally heated work that deals with the most primal human needs – for shelter, security, a sense of self-worth and love."
Chicago Theatre Review - Recommended
"...Jess McLeod’s production of Sharyn Rothstein’s world premiere comes to life on an amazingly flexible scenic design, by Arnel Sancianco. His cleverly creative set transforms into two other apartments, right before our eyes. Lit by Sarah Hughey, with class-appropriate costumes, designed by Christine Pascual, and a sound design by Stephen Ptacek, this is a fascinating, empathetic play that sheds light on those Americans who continually struggle to earn a living wage with which to feed their families and put a roof over their heads."
Chicagoland Theater Reviews - Somewhat Recommended
"...Ultimately, a quality production can take a play just so far. There are two miniplays in "Landladies"-a two-hander between Marti and Christine and a threesome with the Poet injecting a scary edge to the drama. The playwright needs to integrate the Poet more organically into the narrative or save him for another and more suspenseful play. But the acting passes muster with flying colors."
