The Niceties Reviews

Chicago Reader - Recommended

"...The Niceties, Eleanor Burgess’s 2018 two-character debate play, explores how quickly conversations about race, power, and history in America can become too critical to ignore. Directed by Tim Rhoze for Evanston’s Fleetwood-Jourdain Theatre, the production aligns with the company’s mission to center unique stories from Black Americans and the African diaspora."

Around The Town Chicago - Highly Recommended

"...“The Niceties” is an expertly written two-hander directed by Tim Rhoze, which stars Georgerinna Farley as Zoe, a 20-year-old African American college student, and Jesi Mullins as Janine, a white history professor whose family escaped communism in Poland. This high-powered play by Eleanor Burgess is deep on many levels, often having to do with the impact of structural racism on our nation’s history and culture—and how it is internalized within. The story also takes on the history of comparative revolutions, the legitimacy of higher education in America, and the issue of whether or not we live in a democracy."

Evanston Roundtable - Recommended

"...The play is structured in two parts — the first being the debate between the two and the second the fallout after Janine’s comments are made public by Zoe. The tension between the two never fades, as Zoe’s actions cause harm to her professor’s reputation and her well-being."

People and Places - Highly Recommended

"...Zoe counters with the devastating reality – there was a lack of primary documentation from that era because black people were forced into illiteracy; there were too few books which reflect the truth of that time. She is self-assured and resolute; the conversation turns into a debate. This intense, raw play leaves the conversation to be addressed, with an incredible production which needs to be felt – a must see."