Living Green at Victory Gardens Theater - Biograph

Chicago Tribune - Recommended

"...Clunie clearly intends her Victory Gardens Theater play to be an open homage to “Raisin,” even borrowing (and re-purposing) one of the play’s most famous symbols, a house plant. Along with being a very interesting idea, this is also a very gutsy piece of writing—talking about neighborhoods and race is always a tricky business in Chicago. But one of this show’s most appealing assets is its sense of humor and its straight-up depiction of the inherent challenges and compromises of life with teenagers."

Chicago Sun Times - Recommended

"...Clunie's plot can sometimes feel too plotted. Yet she makes a mightily impressive stab at many ideas as she spins the story of an African-American couple -- Angela (Ann Joseph in a knockout performance) and Frank Freeman (Kenn E. Head) -- who began life poor on the South Side and parlayed college educations and a flair for rehabbing houses into a Huxtable-like existence in a white North Shore suburb."

Windy City Times - Recommended

"...Under less sensitive guidance, Living Green could have emerged as little more than a museum-grade replica of mid-20th-century “social problem” plays—a genre encompassing the aforementioned Raisin In The Sun. But under Andrea J. Dymond's incisive direction, a seasoned cast led by Ann Joseph and Kenn E. Head as the ambivalent African-American couple, with sturdy supporting performances from the venerable Cedric Young and newcomers Melanie Brezill, Corey Marshaun Cantrell, Aurelia Clunie and Samuel G. Roberson, Jr., reach beyond archetypal mannerisms, endowing their characters with empathy transcending cultural lines to address conflicts that can only grow more prevalent at this time in our history."

EpochTimes - Recommended

"...Directed by Andrea J. Dymond flawlessly on a set that appears to be the perfect "Moving on up" house in the suburbs by Mary Griswold and some solid lighting effects by Mary Badger, the story appears as if we are truly looking in the window. While to many audience members, the plot may seem implausible, I could see that there might just be a man or two who might have felt the need to follow his heart after experiencing the March. That was a special time in history for the African American male, a time to feel that he was not alone, that he had brothers and that his running away from his past might do more damage than running back to his past and making it his present. I think Ms. Bond Clunie has it!"

Centerstage - Somewhat Recommended

"...This twist on Lorraine Hansberry's classic "Raisin in the Sun" provokes thoughtful discussion, but at times gets too entangled in the intellectual process. The play's writing relies so mightily on literary devices and sociological premises that the characters actions lose their reality."

Time Out Chicago - Recommended

"...even if Clunie’s machinations are blemished, the chemistry within the enormously appealing and natural cast (particularly the rock-solid Ann Joseph as Angela) reaches back and raises the play above the obvious."

ChicagoCritic - Recommended

"...As a play, Living Green has over used motifs and symbolism yet it is an efficiently performed work with richly developed characters. Anne Joseph, Aurelia Clunie and Cedric Young (Mr. Parks) were particularly excellent. Living Green’s controversial plot will fuel worthy discussion. That is a valid role for theatre."