Chicago Tribune - Recommended
"...Whether it's the sweet Thelma (Jen Short), who keeps Carrie company on her bus trip to what's left of Bountiful, or Larry Carani's sheriff, who takes her out to visit the shell of her past, Foote wants us to know that we're all just trying to do our best with our ground time here, before, like the birds over Bountiful, we will "fly away so fast.""
Chicago Reader - Recommended
"...The action of the play covers Carrie's latest effort to make good on her plan. Director Joann Montemurro puts some stress on Foote's mechanism with crude choices, such as letting Eleanor Katz turn Jessie Mae into a complete harridan for the sake of cheap laughs. But the show ticks valiantly on, even finding some charm in performances by Millicent Hurley Spencer as Carrie and Jen Short as Thelma, a young woman Carrie befriends on the trip to Bountiful."
ShowBizChicago - Highly Recommended
"...I never had the opportunity to see the movie “The Trip to Bountiful” in 1985. This film starring Geraldine Page, John Heard, Carlin Glynn, Richard Bradford and Rebecca De Mornay promised to be an Oscar winner. Unfortunately I never saw the film. However, after recently seeing the 2013 season premiere production at Chicago’s Raven Theater, I am glad I waited. The Raven Theater production proved to be a wonderful theater experience that included an interesting story, with excellent characters, and actors with fabulous performances."
Chicago Theatre Addict - Recommended
"...For those unfamiliar with this play (and Raven Theatre's production, directed by Joann Montemurro, is a very fine introduction) I won't give anything away, except to say that this is one of those tales that's more about the journey than the destination. And what a beautifully bountiful trip it is, indeed."
ChicagoCritic - Highly Recommended
"... Millicent Hurley Spencer anchors a marvelous cast that features terrific work from Eleanor Katz as the selfish daughter-in-law, Jessie Mae. Michael Boone’s Ludie offered excellent work. Larry Carani as the Sheriff gave nice supporting performances. But The Trip To Bountiful absolutely belongs to Millicent Hurley Spencer—she gave a memorable performance. her performance is one of the finest performances of the year. Get to Raven Theatre to experience a terrific play and an excellent performance.. The trip to Raven Theatre will be bountiful."
Around The Town Chicago - Highly Recommended
"... Now, in its 31st season, Raven Theatre, located on the North side in what used to be a grocery store, continues to bring us stories that “illuminate the American Experience” allowing audience members to reflect of their lives as well as those of the characters on the stages of the theater. The Raven Theatre, as always offers quality theater at affordable prices and their stage, intimate “storefront” types, allow the audience the intimacy that makes the experience memorable. Their current production is one that played at The Goodman several seasons ago when they had the Horton Foote Festival, and under the direction of Joann Montemurro, with a strong cast led by the incredible Millicent Hurley Spencer, this production brought the story to a higher level, at least for me."
Chicago Theatre Review - Highly Recommended
"...Without quiet, thoughtful plays like Horton Foote's common stories about everyday people, a theatre goer might forget that life was once (and can still be) happy. Small stories that take a gentle look at how workaday people's conventional needs to reconnect with their past are just as important as all those brash, loud, overproduced stage spectaculars. A journey anywhere with Mrs. Carrie Watts is well worth the time and effort."
