Man Of The People presented by Stage Left Theatre at Chicago Dramatists

Chicago Reader - Not Recommended

"...And while I’m as interested as Tolstoy in unhappy families, these two don’t have enough momentum or connection to sustain the piece’s two and a half hours length. There’s a play in there somewhere—probably more than one—but it will take a few more iterations to get to it. Fine performances and an evocative set aren’t enough to carry it in its current form."

Around The Town Chicago - Recommended

"..."Man of the People", a new play by Dolores Díaz, directed by Anna C. Bahow, tells an interesting biographical account about Dr. John R. Brinkley (Michael Peters), a quack physician who effectively uses the new technology of radio to peddle his snake oil cures to listeners throughout the United States. He becomes very popular and very rich as a result, even during the years of the Great Depression. Although Brinkley is initially viewed in the popular mind as being some type of savior, those in the (legitimate) medical field see him for what he is: a no-good charlatan, who needs to be stopped."

Buzznews.net - Highly Recommended

"...“Man of the People,” an original play by Dolores Diaz, tells the incredible but true story of a 1920s medical charlatan, Dr. John Romulus Brinkley, who garnered a large following with a popular medical advice radio program."

Third Coast Review - Somewhat Recommended

"...I was looking forward to Man of the People by Stage Left Theatre. Patent medicine and unbelievable ads in the back of my comic books were a particular fascination of mine. Dolores Díaz's new play tells the story of a real-life charlatan, con man, and bigamist who came up with a surgical cure for impotence in the 1930s. John R. Brinkley conned thousands of people with claims that goat gonad transplant surgery would cure many ills including a "flat tire." Man of the People starts off with the promise of brilliant satire and then goes for serious drama. As a result, it seems director Anna C. Bahow allowed the pacing to be ponderous, but there are other things that would have made two hours, including intermission, go by faster."