Chicago Reader
- Recommended
"...It's a smart, dizzying show that feels particularly urgent now. Guest and his ensemble (which also includes Keith Illidge and Nathaniel Andrew) negotiate the hairpin turns in tone from high farce to hushed sorrowful tragedy. Guest isn't the first to write about the unintended perils of uprisings, but he and Story Theatre have found a fresh and compelling way to revisit the evergreen topic."
Let's Play Theatrical Reviews
- Somewhat Recommended
"...The Story Theatre, committed to cultivating the next generation of artists at the forefront of Chicago theatre, brings to the Raven Theater presents Marie Antoinette and the Magical Negroes. Coming off his impressive narration of, The MAGNOLIA BALLET, this new play from Terry Guest (AT THE WAKE OF A DEAD DRAG QUEEN) hopes to move society closer to the understanding that we are all equal. And we should never stop believing in ourselves and loving who we are."
Around The Town Chicago
- Somewhat Recommended
"...Great acting and impressive choreography cannot save the play "Marie Antoinette and the Magical Negroes", written and directed by Terry Guest. A reflection on our current times, this story about violence and mob rule is revolting in more ways than one. It depicts tragedy and death at the hands of those who don't flinch at the uses of savagery."
Rescripted
- Highly Recommended
"...The Story Theatre, in its second season, has mounted a theatrical feast with Marie Antoinette and The Magical Negroes. Written and directed by resident playwright Terry Guest, the play chronicles the life and eventual demise of the last queen of France. The production features an ensemble of mostly black actors (sans the two who play Marie Antoinette and King Louis XVI) and begins with the façade of a boarded up storefront with the words “This is not history” written broadly across the wall. While this image alludes to days of civil unrest past and present, it functions mainly as an omen that Guest will not be exploring history verbatim, but expanding upon the ripples that provoke the waves of change throughout history."
Buzz Center Stage
- Highly Recommended
"...Let me begin by saying, this was one helluva 90 minutes in Chicago theatre. We enter the theatre to the sound of a combination of Jazz, trap music and hip-hop. There is a sign reading “This is not history”. On stage, the set, a French street with boarded up storefronts with the name of the play prominently on display. I was not aware of the roller coaster ride I was about to witness."
Third Coast Review
- Highly Recommended
"...Almost everything that is written about the times we live in uses words like troubled, divided, and unprecedented. Various adjectives used by the media are rehashed, and do not get down to the guts of human behavior in every era. Story Theatre is a new company that makes its debut with the brilliant and fire hot Marie Antoinette and the Magical Negroes. This is a new play written and directed by Chicago playwright Terry Guest. It's the story of Black revolutions and uprising throughout the centuries and the aftermath of "winning." Do we play the game the same way as those conquered or overthrown?"
Chicago On Stage
- Highly Recommended
"...As its name implies, The Story Theatre knows how to tell a story. The young company, only in its third season, has quickly matured (despite the pause necessitated by the pandemic) into something remarkable and original. In its new play, Terry Guest’s impressive Marie Antoinette and the Magical Negroes, the company tells three stories at once: the (sort of maybe partly accurate but not really) tale of the titular queen and her bloody death, the extrapolation from that of a history of violent revolutions, as well as the story of oppressed people throughout the ages…especially oppressed Black people."
