No More Dead Dogs presented by Griffin Theatre Company at Theater Wit

Chicago Tribune - Somewhat Recommended

"...If you have a kid between about 8 and 13, you'll likely have fun together at director Dorothy Milne's lively production (although Massolia's adaptation badly needs a clip and a trim; if this were “Old Yeller,” we'd be good and ready for the critter to croak). Unlike a lot of shows aimed at kids, this one teaches what you might call relative thinking — its message is that it's never a bad idea to challenge a cultural work that's being pushed on you, or how your emotions are being manipulated. That's the kind of armor that one does not easily acquire from Nickelodeon or the Disney Channel, and it gets more useful every day."

Chicago Reader - Recommended

"...this Griffin Theatre Company production manages to overcome the disparity with charm. An onstage garage band adds to the youthful ambience, and Jeremy Fisher shines as the jaded teacher. Sometimes, though, the show seems to confuse theater for young audiences with theater for the hearing-impaired."

Time Out Chicago - Recommended

"...The cast is excellent, with Jeremy Fisher particularly hilarious as frazzled sadsack Mr. Fogelman. Milne’s also constructed skillful stage pictures: One dream sequence counts among the more striking visuals I’ve lately seen onstage. Dogs may not engage you throughout, but odds are you’ll leave the theater sensing that a decade ago (or two, or six), you could really have enjoyed this."

Chicago Stage and Screen - Recommended

"...By the real play’s end, the issues of Wallace’s excess honesty and dogs who die to save their families gets fudged by a few too many high school crises and stereotypical students.  But director Dorothy Milne, whose work at Lifeline has given her a sure grasp of juvenile fiction, keeps it no less real than cute, while Massolia’s adaptation never slows down enough to make what’s obvious also obnoxious.  A live rock band energizes the predictability even more."

Chicago Theater Beat - Recommended

"...Indeed, much as the play spoofs stale children’s lit, the show looks strangely reminiscent of zany, overtly physical 50s comedy, where every character pretty much stays in type and the show winds up even more crazy from there. Milne’s direction never overplays its hand but always builds the action to its appropriately goofy outcomes. Wallace is solidly flanked by his football buddies and the nerdier drama club, with Joey Eovaldi adding coy and energetic mischief in his role as the younger Dylan. Would that the parts of Rachel (Elllie Reed) and Trudi (Samantha Dubina) could have gone beyond girls-with-crushes-on-the-lead cliches—but at least Reed and Dubin handle their characters sportingly and generously. In fact, one would be hard put to find a more good-natured production, focused solely on dealing out firm and lively fun for the young, than this."