Chicago Tribune
- Recommended
"...The loudest voices ring out at the beginning of Athol Fugard's "My Children! My Africa!" But though deafening, they are also the least dangerous of the arguments spilled in the course of the South African playwright's searing, if occasionally schematic, portrait of his country during the last bloody years of apartheid."
Chicago Sun Times
- Recommended
"...Although the characters often sound a bit too much like mouthpieces for a particular point of view, the actors, under the direction of Cecil O'Neal, are formidable. And reliving a crucial moment in relatively recent history is intriguing. Gilyard captures the loneliness and despair of a man who senses he is being left behind. Robertson is all bristling energy, self-confidence and openness. And Oden -- handsome and full of fire -- makes both his rage and his sadness thrilling and palpable."
Daily Herald
- Somewhat Recommended
"...Quality of the acting aside, "My Children, My Africa" has a few problems. The play tends to repeat itself and comes across as didactic. Also, it stumbles near the anti-climactic ending. Moreover, Fugard uses Isabel - more a stereotype than a fully realized character - as a catalyst in the first act and in the second act relegates her to an observer. She becomes an afterthought as the debate narrows to Thami and Mr. M and their conflict over how to best affect change: with weapons or with words."
Chicago Reader
- Somewhat Recommended
"...There's something particularly awful about a bad play by a great playwright- especially a playwright like Athol Fugard, whose greatness is bound up in bearing witness to the crimes of South African apartheid."
Windy City Times
- Somewhat Recommended
"...Fugard’s script is problematic in its dependence on monologues, but the strength of actors, directed by Cecil O’Neal to performances that cover the emotional spectrum from understated subtly to inflamed cries, prevents the production from becoming bogged down in speechifying."
Gay Chicago Magazine
- Somewhat Recommended
"...As for the production, director Cecil O’Neal keeps the pacing brisk and the dialogue bristling with intensity. However, the actors aren’t able to rise above the script’s deficiencies. I wasn’t particularly fond of any of the performers. As I was watching them, they felt isolated from each other in both physicality and thought. The problem isn’t necessarily with them but rather that Fugard never allows gives them the chance for meaningful interactions."
EpochTimes
- Highly Recommended
"...This is a sparkling, spell binding production on a simple set by Karen Hoffman with lighting by Avraham Mendall Mor and some wonderful music and sound by Mikhail Fiskel. The story is about words and that is the focus of the story- no glitz, just solid performances by all three, and each has their own turn of telling us what is happening within them, but from the very start until the final word, you will not want to miss one second of this production- it is an experience for the eyes and the ears as well as for the mind. Athol Fugard is a true wordsmith and Mr. O'Neal has made this story a wonderful theatrical experience."
Time Out Chicago
- Recommended
"...Under O’Neal’s fully, sometimes overly charged direction, Robertson beams and nearly bounces with the zeal of a privileged, opinionated youth for whom “no” is only a red flag, while Oden expresses the repressed rage of a radicalized student who realizes “no” will follow any education he receives. But it’s Gilyard’s complete mosaic of Mr. M that captivates."
ChicagoCritic
- Highly Recommended
"...Fugard has penned a masterwork filled with rich and unique characters that play out not as stereotypical but tragically flawed but truthfully real people put into situations beyond their control. This is a brilliant show filled with powerful performances that will move you deeply. Clarence Gilyard is tremendously empathetic."
