A Scent of Flowers presented by BackStage Theatre Company at The Building Stage

Chicago Reader - Somewhat Recommended

"...First produced in 1964, the script is too talky and weighed down with whimsy to qualify as the forgotten masterpiece director Matthew Reeder seems to think it is. Still, Reeder's adroit, multilayered production for BackStage Theatre Company conveys compassion and complexity via sensitive performances and John Kelly's subtly shifting lighting design."

Windy City Times - Recommended

"...James Saunders' 1966 play is a distinctly British brand of drama, but while its dialogue sometimes exhibits the reiteration characteristic of internal-consciousness narration, Matthew Reeder's direction keeps the emotional subtexts as immediate as their progress is unhurried over the two and a half hours (with two intermissions) necessary to fully delineate every step in this final, untimely journey—too swift a pace could easily reduce Saunders' delicate repartee to sentimental precocity. Jess Berry (recently seen in Griffin Theatre's Punk Rock) conveys the pain and terror of adolescence with never a trace of mockery, though ably supported by a cast invoking compassion for flawed human beings whose neglect is based not in malice, but ignorance."

Centerstage - Recommended

"... I had never heard of the playwright James Saunders when I walked into Backstage Theatre Company’s production of his ‘A Scent of Flowers,’ directed by Matthew Reeder. But I left the performance with sound desire to look up the rest of his oeuvre. ‘A Scent of Flowers,’ from 1966, is surreal, off-kilter and earnestly existential. Like many plays of that era, it wears its Absurdist affiliations proudly, while also finding room for a bit of heart amidst the madness."

ChicagoCritic - Highly Recommended

"... The wonderful use of language and the unique take on life and death is a special theatrical experience that will enchant and engross you. Kudos to Matthew Reeder for discovering James Saunders and for mounting such a wonderful play. BackStage Theatre needs to finally get much over due recognition for their outstanding work over the last few years. A Scent of Flowers is a gem in need of an audience. Don’t miss it!"