Oak at Raven Theatre

Chicago Tribune - Recommended

"...Guest clearly intends his one-act play to be unnerving, and he succeeds on multiple levels and yet still manages to score some hard laughs, thanks in no small part to Jazzy Rush and Donovan Session, who play the way-too-curious sister and little brother at the core of the show. There's also a compelling performance from Brianna Buckley, playing a stressed-out single mom (who wouldn't be when everyone knows there is a "snatchin' season" going on?), holding down a job at Krystals and worrying on a daily basis. Buckley looks far past the seductive conventions of the genre and instead treats Guest's script as an intensely realistic blueprint. Thankfully, Burke is sufficiently skilled as a director to tie these disparate acting styles together."

Chicago Sun Times - Highly Recommended

"...“Oak” is a Southern Gothic ghost story set in a small town in rural Georgia, where a mysterious creek monster has been snatching kids for generations. Underneath the drama of kids going missing and trying to escape the doomed fate, Guest delivers commentary on childhood trauma, race and what it’s like to be Black and stuck in a perpetual cycle of poverty. When a Black girl goes missing in this fictional town, is there a disproportionate rescue response compared to a white girl? You bet there is, just like in real life."

Chicago Reader - Highly Recommended

"...Terry Guest's aching, funny, and sometimes quite scary Oak, now in a local premiere at Raven Theatre under the direction of Mikael Burke, might hit a little too close to home with ICE out on our streets kidnapping adults and children. But that's probably all the more reason to make time for it, especially if you're looking for something for the scary season with a little social commentary meat on its bones."

Stage and Cinema - Highly Recommended

"...A flashlight illuminating a face from below: what else could follow that image but a ghost story. And what better time for a ghost story than the month that culminates in Halloween, that night when the boundary between this and the other world is at its thinnest, when spirits, both vengeful and benign, can cross over. At Raven Theatre Chicago, Terry Guest’s Oak takes us into the marshes of Georgia to deliver a scary story that, like the best horror stories, has much more on its mind than chills and thrills."

Around The Town Chicago - Somewhat Recommended

"...There are ghost stories ( Odella), which is the name of the creek and the stories go back to days of slavery. The kids are scared and when Suga disappears they go looking for her. I never give away a mystery play, but will tell you that there are some moments of comedy, others of fear and although there might be too many stories for a 90 minute play, the acting is terrific. The ending will surprise you and leave you thinking!"

Chicago Theatre Review - Highly Recommended

"...Mikael Burke's talented quartet of actors spin Guest's suspenseful story beautifully, adding a special air of magical realism to the evening. As Peaches, gifted Equity actress Brianna Buckley (THAT'S WHAT FRIENDS ARE FOR, Black Ensemble Theatre; THE RIPPLE, THE WAVE THAT CARRIED ME HOME, Goodman Theatre) plays a tough-as- nails single mother. She's a tough cookie who works long hours at Krystal's Cafe, while still trying to balance keeping house and raising her children. Ms. Buckley absolutely tears up the stage. While weaving a powerful spell of realistic robustness and indomitable defiance, Peaches tries to balance giving her kids the love and freedom they desire with the protection they require. Brianna also brings life to two other supernatural characters in the play, instilling each with a harmonizing humanity."

Buzz Center Stage - Highly Recommended

"...Director Mikael Burke ends his director's note with the question above. He muses on the responsibilities of parents, and how all we want is to keep our children safe. We hold them close to keep them from harm, but ultimately, what does that do? Does it keep them safe? Or if we hold them too close, does the choice send them in the opposite direction - running towards any sense of freedom that they can find?"

Third Coast Review - Highly Recommended

"...Oak is my third experience with the work of playwright Terry Guest. His work reveals the visceral aspects of the Black experience in America with stark realism, some magical realism, and, as seen in Marie Antoinette and the Magical Negroes, a fearless dive into the surreal. Guest has a gift for creating characters that almost every Black person recognizes in their family or themselves. Oak features people I know and crimes I have been aware of in the South and in Chicago. I feel lucky to have mostly been an observer. Mikael Burke directs Oak as a multi-dimensional experience, including the sound before the show begins at Raven Theatre."

NewCity Chicago - Recommended

"..."Oak" is an entertaining, multi-genre hybrid play for a Halloween audience. Terry Guest's script, directed by Mikael Burke at Raven Theatre, references classic horror, B-movies and horror comedy while contrasting with living-room drama, metatheatrical ghost stories and even puppets. While some valences of the play grasp after Jordan Peele-level horror and social critique, others refuse to engage with the horrors of the real world."