Not For Sale at UrbanTheater Company

Chicago Reader - Recommended

"...This is a story that plays out in cities all over America, and Del Carmen doesn't necessarily provide any new insights or offer many solutions. But by presenting each of the forces in the conflict with humor and empathy, she allows the audience to see where everyone is coming from rather than hammering home a single dogmatic point of view above all others. It takes a near-fatal heart attack and string of vandalism for former enemies to become allies. I don't know if I entirely bought the hopeful coda, but I appreciate Del Carmen's optimism nonetheless."

Windy City Times - Highly Recommended

"...Despite the auditory environment created by Nick Rojas' score of site-specific street sounds ( a symphony encompassing automotive equipment of all varieties, sidewalk plena-y-panderita music and conversations conducted across front stoops, upstairs windows, and curbside vehicles ), the symposial framework underlying the play's arguments is unmistakeable. The cast assembled by director Sara Carranza and led by pioneering LatinX actor Frankie Davila as the warm-hearted Reynaldo deftly reject caricature to offer a rare portrait of social and economical conflicts-and how to resolve them-blissfully free of the divisive rancor so prevalent in our times."

Chicago On Stage - Highly Recommended

"...With a story that radiates energy and, at points, moves at a breakneck pace--providing plenty of dramatic, comedic, and genuinely tender moments--Del Carmen conveys a sense that the issues brought on by gentrification are every bit as complicated as the people who live in its wake. At the end of the day, she gives us no easy answers and no one to hate. She reminds us that the city is the city, the neighborhood is the neighborhood, and the people are the people. And we come away from the experience more than a little entertained and whole lot wiser."