Mill Fire presented by Shattered Globe Theatre at Theater Wit

Chicago Tribune - Recommended

"...Kate LoConti's Marlene refuses to grieve in the prescribed manner. "I am not going to make everybody else comfortable because I'm behaving appropriately," she says to her sister-in-law (Rebecca Jordan), who herself is something of a lost soul, left with little but her Coke and Jim Beam for company when her husband goes to the mill each night (played with amiable resignation by Ken Bradley as the aforementioned foreman)."

Chicago Reader - Highly Recommended

"...Though the story of loss and healing is universal, the play also captures the malaise of a 1970s American heartland beset by economic troubles, the decline of the industrial sector, and the lingering shadow of the Vietnam war. Shattered Globe Theatre's intimate production, skillfully directed by Sandy Shinner, carefully charts Nemeth's nonlinear narrative with the aid of Charlie Cooper's inventive lighting and superb performances by Kate LoConti as Marlene, Drew Schad as her husband, Ken Bradley as Bo, and Rebecca Jordan as Sunny."

Time Out Chicago - Highly Recommended

"...LoConti, untamed and satisfyingly stubborn, sizzles and pops with conviction, from an explosive anger to a much deeper place of hurt, guilt and genuine sorrow. These conflicted emotions bubble up especially in Marlene's interactions with her brother, Bo (a layered Ken Bradley), and his bottle-hitting wife, Sunny (Rebecca Jordan), but scenes dominated by more secondary characters such as Bo's coworker Jemison (Darren Jones) or the Greek chorus of fellow widows (Angie Shriner, Daria Harper and Deana Reed-Foster) too build a haunting and tangible emotional foundation."

Stage and Cinema - Highly Recommended

"...What's clear and compelling well before play's end is Nemeth's total grasp of the mechanism of mourning and its agents of forgiveness. It's all built on the incredible realism of the strip mill itself-kinetically suggested by Christopher Kriz' surging sound design and set designer Jeff Bauer's overhead buckets for molten steel with steam vents suggesting the blast furnaces. As flashbacks recreate what should have been an ordinary graveyard shift in a defective factory, ordinary details become accusations in themselves, charged with meaning because of the deaths to come."

ChicagoCritic - Recommended

"...Mill Fire examines the many definitions of sorrow as well as the vast problems of moving on with life. We care and empathize with the Widows and the featured characters. Ken bradley, Rebecca Jordan, Drew Schad, and especially Kate LoConti gave yeoman performances as they each struggle with the mourning process. This show rivets into our heartstrings."

Chicago Theatre Review - Recommended

"...With so much theatre available in Chicago it's exciting to see this much-honored company taking chances with every production it undertakes. This play is no exception. In a drama that's language-driven and flows back and forth in time, the audience becomes a key element. This is a play that demands to be listened to and digested. Ms. Nemeth's drama, which had its premier at the Goodman some seasons back, is not only stark and captivating it creates a moment in time for audiences will be unforgettable."