Chicago Tribune - Highly Recommended
"...But "Toni Stone" also is about survival and learning to thrive. With the help of a hugely talented and live-wire cast (Kai A. Ealy, Joseph Aaron Johnson, Chike Johnson, Travis A. Knight, Victor Musoni, Jon Hudson Odom, Matty Robinson, Edgar Miguel Sanchez and Terence Sims all support Bonner) Parson and Diamond figured out how to make their show pop like a zesty playoff, replete with bats flying through space and balls dropping from the sky. Parson here is superbly corporal, as exemplified by how we see the players, not just in their games, but strewn on the bus that serves as their home."
Chicago Sun Times - Highly Recommended
"...Lydia R. Diamond's play "Toni Stone," now running at the Goodman Theatre, provides a compelling character study of a woman driven to achieve what she was told she couldn't. Diamond is too crafty a playwright - she wrote "Stick Fly" and "Smart People," both produced in the last few years at Writers Theater - to think of this as a historical document, even though she breathes plenty of life into the historical."
Chicago Reader - Highly Recommended
"...Fortunately, Lydia Diamond’s 2019 play Toni Stone, now in its local premiere at the Goodman under the careful and buoyant direction of Ron OJ Parson, is a curtain-to-curtain treat. The production is filled with passion, humor, and a clear-eyed view of what it takes to be the first—specifically, the first woman to play professional baseball full-time in the United States. Being a Black woman in the Negro Leagues just adds to the dramatic conflicts for Stone that Diamond anatomizes in her story."
Windy City Times - Highly Recommended
"...Lydia R. Diamond's original play, Toni Stone, is simply wonderful on all levels. Directed by Ron OJ Parson in its Chicago premiere at the Goodman Theatre, the play is about the first known woman to play pro baseball. The script, acting, choreography and staging were perfect—I wanted to go home, get my well-worn baseball glove, and jump on stage."
Let's Play Theatrical Reviews - Highly Recommended
"...Filled with excellent stories and a tremendous narrative storyline, Toni Stone is by far one of the best plays in Chicago. And Goodman Theatre has another terrific play in The Wave, The Ripple That Carried Me Home, until February 12. Both are 'A Must-See' production."
Around The Town Chicago - Highly Recommended
"..."Toni Stone" now onstage at The Goodman Theatre's Albert stage takes us thru the 1920's- 1940's Negro ;league and a little different story. Toni is a female player in a man's world. She can play and is terrific, but she is a woman. Lydia R. Diamond takes us through these years and allows us to watch her struggles with the owners, the other players, the fans, her family and her lover."
Chicago Theatre Review - Highly Recommended
"...Everything about Toni Stone's life is Baseball. She's a talented player, a supportive teammate and a shrewd negotiator. When things get tough, the gifted athlete comforts herself and others with her encyclopedic knowledge of statistics and trivia. She's an important individual, both in sports and as an advocate for women's rights. She's also a figurehead in Black history. Until now, very few people knew about this extraordinary woman, but that's all about to change, as audiences are bound to fill the Goodman Theatre and keep their eye on the ball."
Buzznews.net - Highly Recommended
"...“Toni Stone”, written by award winning playwright Lydia Diamond is receiving a rip-rousing production at the Goodman Theatre. Arguably, this is Lydia Diamond’s finest work, and that is saying a mouthful. She has consistently written engaging, thought-provoking work, adding beauty and depth to the American theatre canon."
PicksInSix - Highly Recommended
"...The wonderful Tracey N. Bonner inhabits Toni Stone with a child's longing, a woman's continual feist against conformity, and an athlete's endless vision. Ms. Bonner presents someone absolutely on point in her feelings about baseball, almost obsessively so. Stone is a baseball computer; she uses her knowledge of baseball players and statistics as a salving tool in constant recitative to survive what is thrown at her on the diamond by opposing teams and, indeed, the world at large. The self-advocating side of Stone only serves to further strengthen the obvious calling that baseball was to her; Bonner offers this in wide, tender eyes and knowing delivery. This is an actor's masterclass in fully inhabiting one's character in a show that I would see again and again."
Picture This Post - Highly Recommended
"...Toni Stone would be a good fit for anyone who likes plays rooted in history, especially stories we may not usually hear. It also would be a good fit for those who enjoy a play with good story telling and lots of jokes."
Splash Magazine - Highly Recommended
"...Toni Stone is an excellent illustration of how history can come to life onstage in all its messy, ugly, and glorious truth. With a skilled group of actors, clean design, and impressive direction by Henri Watkins, Toni Stone is not to be missed."
BroadwayWorld - Recommended
"...Aside from offering a juicy role for Toni Stone herself, however, the play most succeeds in creating dynamic work for the ensemble. TONI STONE rightfully centers Toni, but the other characters in the play are rich, humorous, and poignant. Toni's teammates are an eclectic bunch; aside from Bonner, the other actors combined play her teammates, her husband Alberga, and a few other characters from Toni's life. Some of the actors even have double or triple roles, and slide between them easily. With this cast, the Indianapolis Clowns come colorfully to life."
NewCity Chicago - Highly Recommended
"...Toni Stone (Tracey N. Bonner), is so incredibly charming that you wish that you could pull up a bar stool next to her and talk baseball with her at her favorite watering hole, Jack’s Tavern. Ever so humble, Stone references her lack of education before waxing on lofty topics like religion, philosophy, physics and geometry, and displays an encyclopedic knowledge of baseball statistics. The character of Stone is disarmingly sweet, which helps the medicine go down when the show gets serious."
