Chicago Tribune - Recommended
"...Allen’s play follows Wayland and Della Rose Early in two different years of their lives. On a cleverly divided stage by scenic designer Sydney Lynne, director Wardell Julius Clark stages the story of the Earlies in 1938 upstage in a small apartment set. There, Della Rose waits for her husband to return home from work. Meanwhile downstage, a younger set of Earlies from 1921, two young lovers expecting a child soon, are dreaming of a bright future after Wayland, who has a knack for making handmade shoes, has found success in his work."
Chicago Reader - Highly Recommended
"...The Last Pair of Earlies marks Raven Theatre's first in-theater project after its 19-month pandemic hiatus, as well as its first show within its new Equity CAT agreement. And it's a fitting and impressively scaled selection for the company's newest era; director Wardell Julius Clark's finely cast world premiere production feels well-aligned with Raven Theatre's aesthetic, as do Allen's vivid words. In an interview with actor and writer Ron Fassler, Allen cites Tennessee Williams as an incalculable influence, along with Eugene O'Neill, and there are structural and spiritual reverberations here of Lorraine Hansberry and August Wilson."
Windy City Times - Highly Recommended
"...Raven Theatre's premiere performance still harbored traces of the restrictive development inflicted by the recent shutdown, but under Wardell Julius Clark's direction, the six-member ensemble-Shadana Patterson and Marcus D. Moore as the grown Della and Wayland, Demetra Dee and Jonny Morrison as their youthful avatars, and Tarina Bradshaw and Keith Illidge as their roads-not-taken counselors-proudly acquit themselves in fulfilling the demands of a script considerably heftier than the current crop of post-pandemic one-acts."
Let's Play at ChicagoNow - Highly Recommended
"...Directed by Wardell Julius Clark, who is undoubtedly becoming one of the top directors in Chicago, he infuses his experience and knowledge into the direction of this play. His ability to bring scenes into focus so that the audience can feel the cast's emotions is impeccable. His desire to speak the black experience is powerful, generational, and spiritual."
Chicago Theatre Review - Recommended
"...This is a world premiere and the script could use some editing. Sometimes scenes go on a little too long, after establishing the playwright’s main point. There’s also times when the pacing is too slow. The final scene between Della Rose and Wayland is one instance when less could definitely be more. But this play is an auspicious beginning for Joshua Allen, a talented young Chicago playwright with a flair for both the dramatic, as well as the comic. Hopefully we’ll be seeing much more of his work in the near future."
Picture This Post - Highly Recommended
"...The strong and skillful performances help bring this script very much to life. With a relatively bare bones set, these actors make both Mississippi of 1921 and the South Side Chicago of 1939 very real, and at the same time bring out the all-too-universal in the story. Most of us have known at least one moment when we felt our very life depended on a seemingly deaf intimate hearing us, or a blind intimate seeing us. Expect to bring those sensibilities to The Last Pair of Earlies. If you can't recall such a personal moment, don't sweat it. Actress Shadana Patterson's bravura performance assures that you will get this and then some."
Splash Magazine - Recommended
"...The actors and creative team are to be commended for their talent. Though this skilled production has a few issues; and the touching script may need some tweaking, I was happy to see its Chicago opening as I sat in an integrated audience honoring the reopening of Chicago theater, at Raven Theatre. Bravo."