The Beautiful Dark at Redtwist Theatre

Chicago Tribune - Recommended

"...The performances have to be scaled just right for this sort of thing to work. It would be so easy to judge this mother for her every misstep, but Jacqueline Grandt (under Josh Altman's nuanced direction) challenges your reactions as she juggles a weary ex (Tommy Lee Johnston, terrific and entirely credible as the town's police chief), a younger son (Jacob Bond as a sweet, dorky kid who idolizes his brother) and this vexing, terribly unhappy young man wreaking havoc on their lives, played by Aaron Kirby as a fantastically manipulative and impenetrable human being. Kirby brings to mind Peter Sarsgaard, and carries himself with the same wry intelligence. Like a dog cornered, he is unpredictable and quite possibly dangerous. Or not."

Time Out Chicago - Recommended

"...Compared to Stephen Karam and PJ Paparelli's journalistic columbinus or Simon Stephens's richly layered and humanizing Punk Rock, both of which cover similar territory, Gernand's script, in Josh Altman's world premiere production for Redtwist Theatre, puts less stock in the questio of "why?" when addressing its disturbed protagonist's would-be crime. Gernand instead focuses heavily on whether or not the student's story is an indication of his mental health, even when the answer is playing out minute-by-minute on stage: Jacob is suicidal, hostile and uncontrollably impulsive. For a story that centers on the challenges faced by parents of violent children, a great deal of stage time is devoted to watching Jacob unravel when the end result is apparent from the beginning. While passionate and pained performances, especially from Kirby and Johnston, help convey the frustration and futility of managing the emotions of a person who can't control them, the more interesting conflict seems to stay in mom and dad's heads."

ShowBizChicago - Highly Recommended

"...Superbly directed by Josh Altman, The Beautiful Dark wastes no time bringing the audience into the disturbing world of this family whom are all clearly on the brink. Each one of the actors is perfectly cast and relate to each other in a very organic and real way, that at no time do you ever question the authenticity of their performances."

ChicagoCritic - Highly Recommended

"...I can’t remember see a more ‘finished’ tightly written world premiere that Erik Gernand’s The Beautiful Dark. The character development, the writing (especially Jacob’s short stories) and the plotting here are first class. Gernand is a playwright to be noted."

Around The Town Chicago - Recommended

"...One of my favorite "storefront" theater venues is Redtwist on Bryn Mawr where they use their small space to the fullest. Their mission statement says that they will do "white hot drama in a tiny black box, with a little red twist" and over the years, I have found that the productions they select are exactly this. Their current production, a World Premiere by Erik Gernand, "The Beautiful Dark" is a story that will keep you on the edge of your seat. Once again, we have a dysfunctional family. In this case,Nancy ( the always strong Jaqueline Grandt) an educator has two sons, one away at college and the other preparing to enter high school. Her ex-husband Tom ( deftly handled by Tommy Lee Johnston) is the local law. What happens at the very onset is that the elder son, Jacob ( a strong performance by Aaron Kirby) is coming home from leaving college. His younger brother, Charlie ( Jacob Bond, who was involved in the reading done on this show) idolizes Jacob and wants to rebuild the family unit."

Chicago Theatre Review - Somewhat Recommended

"...The small space was very intimate. The audience was right in the middle of dramatic shouting matches. It felt like being at home during high school. I would recommend sitting on the sides so you get a full view of all scene. Being so close certainly felt like intruding into someone’s home and watching their family fall apart in front of you. By the end, I understood that real families who deal with a mentally ill child must have a very dark and complicated experience."