Chicago Reader - Highly Recommended
"...Cecilie Keenan's staging has its drawbacks. Attempting to bring a sense of realism to a small space, Kevin Rolfs's set ends up creating confusion over how and where everybody lives. More important, Raina Lynn's Julia is awkward and artificial in the early going. Still, she more than compensates when it comes time to explode. And she gets powerful support from Susan Anderson's comic/tragic landlady as well as Lisa McConnell, Myesha-Tiara, and Kevin Patterson as vividly sketched neighbors. Donna McGough and Reid Coker are as horrific as they need to be as Herman's mother and a despicably Harvey Weinsteinesque salesman. Scott Westerman's Herman is stunning in his absolute everydayness."
Windy City Times - Highly Recommended
"...The Artistic Home has displayed a welcome willingness to recognize this all-but-unknown author's significant contributions to the North American literary canon, however. Although Childress' script, by virtue of its period, could have succumbed to heavy-handed melodrama, Cecilie Keenan's direction keeps the action in this meticulously crafted production flowing smoothly and effortlessly, while an ensemble of marathon-sturdy actors deliver emotively nuanced performances, enhanced by Joseph Cerqua's wistful incidental music. They all remind us that tragic tales of love thwarted by filial obligation and societal pressure in an age characterized by pessimism, xenophobia and divisive unrest have not diminished in their timeliness."
Theatre By Numbers - Recommended
"...Catch this performance before it closes (you’ve got until December 17th), and support a company doing Chicago theater the service of choosing authors of color, hiring actors of color and producing work that is far from easy. There are more black women onstage for “Wedding Band” than I’ve seen in all of the shows I’ve reviewed during 2017, combined. With a fraction of the funding and support extended to Chicago’s larger playhouses, “Wedding Band” has prioritized voices and stories of color in a way I hope inspires more theaters to take note."
Chicagoland Musical Theatre - Highly Recommended
"...I became emotional watching Herman’s family uncomfortably interact with Julia’s family, a reality that hit too close to home. In a time of facing tough truths, this is an important play for everyone to see. It is also ahead of its time, anticipating a time when this could easily be filmed and broadcast in prime time. But this play is also a fun, funny two hours about a close-knit neighborhood coming together in ways that seem distant, as it is set 100 years ago, and yet this extended family is all too familiar."
- Sheri and Josh Flanders
Third Coast Review - Highly Recommended
"...Wedding Band: A Love/Hate Story in Black and White is a powerful drama of black-white relations in 1918 South Carolina, soulfully directed by Cecile Keenan at the Artistic Home. The 1966 play, written by Alice Childress, a prolific if little-known African-American playwright, has passion and relevance for a modern audience."
Picture This Post - Highly Recommended
"...Raw and revolting, Wedding Band—A Love Story in Black & White rips apart the mindset that makes we-won’t-die Klansmen march in Charlottesville, hatch birther conspiracies and then try on a new moniker of “alt right”. How you experience this play is likely affected by how much your day is or isn’t shaped by White skin privilege vs. breathing-while-Black cautions."
NewCity Chicago - Highly Recommended
"...The entire cast, especially the neighborhood characters of Mattie (Myesha-Tiara), Lula Green (Lisa McConnell) Nelson Green (Kevin Patterson) and Fanny Johnson (Susan Anderson), have a rhythm and chemistry between them that flows seamlessly. The child actresses, Teeta (Maya Hooks) and Princess (Madison Murphy), will steal your heart with their adorableness. And the mere entrance of Donna McGough, as Herman’s mother, is a powerful shift in energy. The Artistic Home is to be commended for keeping Childress’ legacy alive with this enjoyable night out.'
