The Good Fight presented by Babes With Blades at City Lit Theater

Chicago Reader - Somewhat Recommended

"...Unfortunately, a just cause is no recipe for compelling drama. There's not a single moment in this nearly two-hour production in which sympathies might waver or anyone could have any doubt about the fight's outcome. The piece comes off as a lecture with unnecessary emoting added. Elizabeth Lovelady directed."

Windy City Times - Highly Recommended

"...Bertram's text is so saturated with historical minutiae that it takes us awhile to make the connection between young women chivvied by constables for distributing leaflets and those same women later approved by former opponents after toiling in the munitions factories. Audiences questioning the applicability of battles long fought and won to global conditions in 2018 may also be slow in recalling populations today marginalized on the basis of gender. In the meantime, Elizabeth Lovelady's direction and Gaby Labotka's fight design for the agile actors ( including three males playing assorted buffoons and beanbags ) of the Babes With Blades Theatre Company gives action-adventure aficionados plenty to cheer."

Theatre By Numbers - Recommended

"...While the integration of jujutsu felt schematic in some of the playwright’s work, the excellent fight choreography by Gaby Labotka makes the throws and falls land with intense reality. These women are athletes, and they protect their own, using opponents’ strength to their advantage, and protecting one another before striking against others. Such movement represents the heart of “The Good Fight.” Compromise and action can only happen when activists are willing to stand together, and force the public to see their points of view."

The Fourth Walsh - Recommended

"...Christabel Pankhurst, Emmeline Pankhurst, Gertrude Harding, Harriet Kerr, Grace Roe, Emily Wilding Davison were women suffragettes in London. Playwright Anne Bertram gives us a peek into the turbulent era that secured a woman's right to vote. Bertram starts her story when Christabel runs away to Paris to escape imprisonment. Although Christabel wants to lead from a safe distance, the London-based militant movement advances the cause with less and less of her influence. The ladies learn jujitsu. They write articles. They burn churches. They sacrifice their bodies, their health, and their lives for the greater cause."

Picture This Post - Somewhat Recommended

"...Though this reviewer would have loved this latest show from Babes With Blades to be smoother, more cohesive, it's also clear that the acting and design elements are strong, and the production shines a light on an obscure yet fascinating chapter in the suffrage struggle. The Good Fight might not be everyone's cup of tea, but fans of history, ethics, and jujutsu have reason to be excited."

NewCity Chicago - Somewhat Recommended

"...It's not that "The Good Fight" is bad, necessarily. The actors are very passionate and that passion translates into some lovely performances. But the script is plodding, the plot lacks an arc, every plot progression is so dramatic that no plot progression is dramatic, and the end of the play feels much like the beginning, leaving the audience to wonder, "Wait. But why?""