Chicago Tribune - Somewhat Recommended
"...Writer Laura Eason’s thick-with-nostalgia play, “The Undeniable Sound of Right Now” — now at the Raven Theatre under the direction of BJ Jones — is set in 1992, back when Thursday meant snagging the print edition of the Chicago Reader, its thicker-than-a-phone book music section filled with news and opinions of a different kind of gig economy. The cool kids, of course, preferred the secret shows — the chance to see The Clash in a clutch or Stevie Nicks with her guards down."
Chicago Reader - Somewhat Recommended
"...As a valentine to the music scene of the early 90s, Eason's play is delightful. Jeffrey D. Kmiec's graffiti-smeared bar walls recall the old Club Dreamerz in Wicker Park, and Lindsay Jones's sound design offers ear candy of the era. But like Hank himself, it's a play torn between wallowing in the old stories and trying to fumble its way into a vision of what an undeniable cathartic music scene should be—right now."
Windy City Times - Somewhat Recommended
"...When Hank playing guitar riffed on "Sympathy for the Devil" and other rock anthems, some audience members knowingly hummed along because most of the audience were aging Baby Boomers like Hank himself. Although written in 2015, The Undeniable Sound of Right Now seems like a throwback to an earlier era of American theatrical realism, and the audience that supported it."
Stage and Cinema - Highly Recommended
"...Raven’s six actors pump up actual urgency — and raise the stakes in every scene. Mills’ stubborn resistance to giving in to mediocrity is echoed by Stock’s dogged defense of her dad. Driving home Bette’s bedrock decency, Black is salt-of-the-earth believable. Morris’s otherwise rancid Joey gets sympathy as an unloved son repudiating his father’s contracts. Acevedo and Greenberg fare well as true believers trying to find the right beat as a new millennium lurks ahead."
Chicago Theatre Review - Highly Recommended
"...The show is about the familiar cycle of growing up and growing old and passing the torch (willingly or not) to a new generation. The show fuses the personal version of that story of Hank and his daughter with the musical one of classic rock being supplanted by electronic music. Supported by a stellar cast and crew, on and off stage, the result is a moving mediation on getting older that manages to never veer into being syrupy or maudlin."
Third Coast Review - Recommended
"...Laura Eason’s play, The Undeniable Sound of Right Now, directed by BJ Jones, is on stage now at Raven Theatre. The characters are indelibly drawn and well performed. Jeff Mills is Hank, the longtime bar owner who has nurtured young bands, some of which turned out to be the real thing, and he slipped in some famous ones for special gigs. My heart skipped a beat when I heard that the Clash played there while on tour. Kiss was there before they put on makeup. And Nirvana stopped in."
Chicago Theater and Arts - Highly Recommended
"...There is so much to like about “The Undeniable Sound of Right Now” by Laura Eason at the Raven Theatre in Edgewater. It’s a snapshot of one of the many evolutionary changes that is inevitable in a growing and vibrant city."
Picture This Post - Recommended
"...Eason’s piece beautifully captures the threat of generational clashes. Not only does Hank have to confront the rise of a whole new form of music that makes his life’s work obsolete, but he also must deal with the fact that his daughter is growing up, and there is nothing he can do to stop it. Eason’s play may take place in the specific moment of the 1990s with the fall of rock music, but the themes are universal, exploring how the older generations must deal with both the good and bad of the younger generations taking over, and how that impacts that which we hold dear."
NewCity Chicago - Somewhat Recommended
"...Given the backdrop of the big anniversary, Hank’s amiable relationship with his ex-wife Bette (Dana Black) is the sweetest part of this show. As Hank, Mills is the rough-and-tumble barback one presumes to find at a grunge bar. He’s also just sharp enough to walk the line between father figure and tough guy with the grace we need to give a damn. Hank and Bette are kindred spirits despite their history and Bette smooths out the edges of every character in their bar family, not just Hank. Black brings the sobering humor the play needs."
