Chicago Tribune - Somewhat Recommended
"...The writing is notably warm and compassionate; tate has a nicely poetic sensibility to their prose. Most young writers pen some version of this play, of course, and it is not typically their most ambitious work. The other issue the play faces here, I think, is that tate wants to be positive about both characters."
Chicago Sun Times - Recommended
"...Staged in Victory Gardens' smaller upstairs theater, "Queen of the Night" marks the company's return to live performance after nearly two years off, as well as the directorial debut of the company's new artistic director, Ken-Matt Martin, who was appointed during the pandemic pause. With a vegetal scenic design by Sydney Lynne that snakes its way into the audience and an eerie, enveloping soundscape designed by G Clausen, Martin creates a welcoming environment for us to witness this overdue flowering of familial understanding."
Chicago Reader - Recommended
"...It’s a testament to the performances by Guest and Teamer, as well as tate’s language, how fully the histories of these characters are realized without ever making them explicit. Whenever Ty bristles at his father’s attempts to ask him about his dating life, for example, we get the sense that it’s more reflexive than repudiatory—but we as an audience still feel the sting of the rejection, understandable as it may be. Likewise, in another scene, Ty expects to be mocked for practicing a Celine Dion routine, only for his dad to be warmly reminded of how much Ty’s mother loved the song."
Windy City Times - Somewhat Recommended
"...Playgoers steeped in demographical statistics and Hollywood stereotypes may assume these factors to significantly alter the filial dynamics under scrutiny, but why should it? Tate's narrative does not concern itself with social/political issues as much as it does the cultural barriers to intergenerational accord, articulated in lyrical apostrophes (tate's resume also includes several poetry collections) functioning like songs in a musical to reveal thoughts hitherto left unspoken within the spheres of masculine behavior."
Stage and Cinema - Somewhat Recommended
"...Queen of the Night felt a bit like a theater workshop. The moments of real substance, a father struggling with the fact he has just been downsized out of a job, guilt over not always being there for his children in the aftermath of a divorce, the self-acceptance of a gay man in the black community, were buried under a lot of superfluous filler. Sifting through the peripheral, Queen had some real moments of promise. It may not be a reigning hit yet, but it is a provocative night of theater for those craving such."
Let's Play at ChicagoNow - Somewhat Recommended
"...Queen of the Night touches on this subject, graciously trying to peel back the onion to continuously show that hatred against different people is never the right course of action. I admire the playwright’s desire to help the audience see others as they are, without prejudice. I only wished they would have hit the pavement running with his play instead of gradually allowing us to see Ty, a gay young man struggling how others saw him and how he saw himself."
Around The Town Chicago - Recommended
"...The play is an 85 minute story about a father and son. They have drifted apart over the years. His parents are divorced and his mother is about to remarry. As we learn in the very beginning of their camping trip that Ty ( Terry Guest) has recently lost his job. Stephen, (deftly handled by Andre Teamer) his son, is Gay and never tries to hide this. So we have a father and son, two men you would never expect to be on a camping trip doing so, to attempt to relive their pasts and maybe get a little closer, relationship wise."
Chicago Theatre Review - Somewhat Recommended
"...With naturalistic costuming, pulled together by Rueben D. Echoles, lighting that reflects the outdoors in both daytime and night, and an excellent sound design created by G Clausen that perfectly captures the wilderness atmosphere, this production is technically sound. But travis tate's drama, with some moments of comedy thrown in to soften the rough edges, isn't an especially new story. We've seen this play before, in different guises. The cast features two competent actors: Terry Guest, who seems pretty much one-note, as Ty; and Andre Teamer, who's quite good and gives a beautifully nuanced performance as Stephen, subtly revealing the many levels of this father. Ty eventually comes to realize that he has a friend and a champion is Stephen, and that his dad was and continues to be really his first hero."
Third Coast Review - Highly Recommended
"...Director Ken-Matt Martin keeps the action at a contemplative pace. There are no overwrought revelations and confessions in the woods. Martin directs this production to have emotional weight that has beauty in its subtlety. Sydney Lynne’s scenic design coupled with Sim Carpenter’s lighting is a surreal and stylized combination. The scene with both men donning headlights and looking for owls veers pleasantly into some psychedelic memories."
Chicago On Stage - Recommended
"...From the moment you walk into the Richard Christiansen Theatre, you are absolutely immersed in Sydney Lynne’s stunning deep-in-the-forest set. With its trees and bowers of leaves and flowers, it seems to be the kind of place where magic can happen. And in travis tate’s Queen of the Night, directed by Ken-Matt Martin, a kind of magic does indeed happen that leaves the two characters permanently changed."
PicksInSix - Highly Recommended
"...Welcome to the jungle! Well, the woods, actually, of Victory Gardens's "Queen of the Night" in the upstairs Richard Christiansen Theater. Like an immersive Universal Studios ride, from the stage manager's booth to the back wall, the intimate venue is transformed into an elaborate forest. To start, the audience was warmly welcomed back to VG after '735 days away' by effervescent Artistic Director Ken-Matt Martin and Acting Managing Director Roxanna Conner as we enthusiastically hit the camping trail, which was most appropriate for the feel-good story ahead."
BroadwayWorld - Somewhat Recommended
"...QUEEN OF THE NIGHT ultimately feels like it lacks specificity, and the dynamic between a parent and a child who seem diametrically opposed feels utterly familiar. Stephen and Ty read more like ideas for characters than fully dimensional character studies, even if the actors try their best to find more depth in their deliveries. As Martin continues his work as Victory Gardens's new artistic director, I think there's more exciting new plays yet to be discovered and staged."
NewCity Chicago - Highly Recommended
"...“Queen of the Night” examines multigenerational Blackness through a queer lens. It pushes back against traditional notions of gender identity, particularly for young Black men in the community. When Ty lets his walls down for a moment of raw vulnerability, we recognize why he is so afraid of being left alone with the looming threat of nearby bears. This work is something we desperately need right now. Not just for ourselves as individuals, rather for the child inside all of us begging to be recognized for who they are with no regard for “what they should be.”"
