Small Jokes About Monsters presented by 16th Street Theatre at Berwyn Cultural Center

Chicago Tribune - Recommended

"...Rough and unpolished as it may be, I thought this a live, present, in-the-moment little show, filled with kind-hearted and generous acting. Slater (a very capable actor usually stuck playing patriarchal corporate jerks) clearly relishes his rare chance to show us another side. And Cruz is just fabulous throughout — he takes a deep dive into his laughing, crying, ever-joking guy, trying to find his way to a serious recovery."

Chicago Reader - Highly Recommended

"...Strafford adheres pretty closely to the dramatic structure of this kind of play-the ending is pure Chekhov-but his gift for strong dialogue and original characters keeps things from getting too predictable. It helps that this 16th Street Theater production under the direction of Kristina Valada-Viars is well paced and filled with strong actors who know how to make their characters compelling, which keeps the story fascinating and fresh."

Picture This Post - Highly Recommended

"...Another modern twist Stafford provides is that he doesn’t pretend legacies of abuse and neglect or the maladaptive behaviors people develop in response to them have a clean resolution. New information gets revealed, and the family members understand themselves and each other better. But that doesn’t fix everything between them, or even necessarily put them on the path to fixing things or breaking things off. Life is a series of days, indeed."