Strange Heart Beating presented by Cloudgate Theatre at Reginald Vaughn Theater

Chicago Reader - Somewhat Recommended

"...Ramon notices strange happenings all around him, but as he says, "It isn't news when Brown girls go missing." The lighting design, by Kaili Story, is on point. The rest is precious and preposterous."

Windy City Times - Recommended

"...There's potential for a nifty TV-movie in Kristin Idaszak's play-TWO movies, in fact. Whether they are capable of sharing the same performance space/time is up to the individual viewer, though."

Chicago Theatre Review - Somewhat Recommended

"...If you’re going to see this play, see it for the poise and steely strength of Shum and the spectacular production design. Perhaps see the play when it has been edited so as to fully mix all of the genre ingredients together and to create a beautiful pie. But as of right now, it’s as if I walked into a shop to buy a shirt and walked out with all of the pieces of fabric cut to match a pattern, with my task being to sew all of the pieces (errant plot lines and character turns) together."

Chicago On Stage - Recommended

"...Strange Heart Beating may not, in the end, work for everyone. There are character decisions that are more mysterious than the lake. There is also an ending that might leave you frustrated, but then again it is true to how such things often play out in real life. Dramaturg Tanuja Jagernauth calls this play “not just a beautiful and haunting piece of theatre, but a powerful call to inquiry.” She’s right. And living as we do in a time when more and more darkness is exposed in the world, especially in celebrities and politicians who, in a less volatile time, might have continued in their amoral pursuits without notice, we all owe it to the world to lead that inquiry. Too many people turn too many blind eyes to things that ought to be outrageous. Idaszak’s play reminds us that, if we willfully don’t see what is going on, we are culpable as well."

Picture This Post - Recommended

"...By dredging the lake’s secrets, Cloudgate Theatre gives us a deep dive into the kind of sick mindsets sustained by racism that triumph in throwing children in cages. Unlike numbing daily headlines however, Strange Heart Beating keeps us enthralled and sitting on the edge of our seats."