Chicago Tribune
- Recommended
"...In “Sanctuary City,” a richly poetic piece of writing set in the first decade of the 21st century, Majok (pronounced like “my oak”), homes in on two high school seniors living in Newark, New Jersey, and forced mostly to look after themselves. Both are from immigrant families, existing in the shadows, although Majok never specifies their country of origin so as to better universalize their condition. The characters don’t even have names, which would imbue a specificity this writer prefers to avoid."
Chicago Sun Times
- Highly Recommended
"...Even with some weaknesses, this play does what the best theater can: provide us with a new perspective that is likely to linger. And that makes me want to see everything Martyna Majok has written and will write into the future."
Chicago Reader
- Recommended
"...By the end of this taut and affecting play, you may well feel a sense of exhaustion right along with B, who has been waiting for years for something most of us who aren’t at the mercy of immigration laws take for granted: the right to simply move along with our lives."
Around The Town Chicago
- Somewhat Recommended
"...Martyna Majok’s “Sanctuary City” tells a story about minor children of illegal migrants to the United States but has nothing to do with a sanctuary city per se; calling it “The Dreamers” or “Dreams Gone Awry” would have been more apt. Putting that criticism aside, the acting is intense and marvelous, and the dynamics between the three characters are fascinating. But the script is lacking. This 90-minute two-act show with no intermission is unevenly paced with verbiage that throws a lot at the audience at once, but only in the second act do we have an idea where it’s really going. And be prepared to see two halves of a performance which are radically dissimilar in artistry, directing, and style."
Chicago Theatre Review
- Highly Recommended
"...If there’s a lesson to be learned in Martyna Majok’s “Sanctuary City,” it’s that life is filled with problems and conflicts, both large and small. In order to survive the turmoil and obstacles that life throws our way, we bond with others. In doing so we give our love to them and place all our trust in that individual. It’s a risk that most of us are willing to take, over and over again. But in the end we never really know if the risk will be worth the chance we take. In the meantime, we remain hiding in the shadows of doubt."
Rescripted
- Highly Recommended
"...The play is a beautiful night at the theater. I left feeling my heartstrings tugged upon. I was wowed by the design, and excited about the acting. Sanctuary City is an exciting, and fitting choice, in which Steppenwolf’s two main programs successfully collide. Majok’s story pierces through as a reminder of all the things we have gained since the early aughts, including the legalization of gay marriage, and the Dream Act. It is also a reminder of all the rights immigrants are still fighting for in the United States, and a call to remember our place in that fight."
Buzz Center Stage
- Highly Recommended
"...This is playwriting of the highest order, and the performances by Zamudio (Brandon Rivera) are deft and sensitive. But we experience B's pain through the remarkable performance by Lewis. One scene early on, where G surprises 17-year-old B with a cake for his seventeenth birthday, brought me to tears. Understated, mostly silent, with imagined props illuminated only by a cigarette lighter, it's his first one alone. No joy, just tears."
Third Coast Review
- Somewhat Recommended
"...Sanctuary City, Steppenwolf's new production by playwright Martyna Majok, is an earnest play with a bit of heart. It tries to demonstrate what the lives of young immigrants are like by showing the conflicts and heartbreak two of them suffer at the turn of the 21st century."
Chicago On Stage
- Highly Recommended
"...It’s a powerful piece that highlights the problems that can arise when our core needs for friendship, home, and love intertwine in ways that those in charge don’t approve of. Majock’s decision to set it in the aughts shows how little things have really changed. Plus ça change, plus c’est la meme chose."
Life and Times
- Highly Recommended
"...Playwright Martyna Majok has won the creme de la creme of writing awards, including the Pulitzer Prize - the ultimate form of distinction. Sanctuary City is one more shining example of the scribe's brilliance, depth, and beauty of the soul. Martyna Majok's Sanctuary City is exquisite urban poetry at its finest."
Chicago Culture Authority
- Recommended
"...Thanks to soulful performances by all three actors (especially Zamudio, who displays a firecracker wit), one’s heart goes out to everyone involved. Everyone, that is, except for the politicians who make these young people’s lives so difficult just because they can."
