Lord of the Underworld's Home for Unwed Mothers Reviews
Los Angeles Times- Recommended
"...Although the narrative sometimes threatens to collapse into grand opera, Hill proves a promising if occasionally self-indulgent playwright who finds a surprising amount of humor in her play. In a cannily calibrated staging, director Tony Abatemarco makes the most of his comical opportunities while tamping down the play's moments of lurid emotionalism into a richly human context."
Broadway World- Recommended
"...Director Tony Abatemarco expertly keeps his actors and the action moving at such a smooth and steady pace, 70 minutes of Louisa Hill's smart and witty dialogue (i.e., Dee's biting 'fruit' presentation given in front of her high school class) somehow passed by in a flash."
LA Splash- Recommended
"...Cindy Lin's scenic design is simple, offering only a suggestion of the environment and keeping the focus on the people who share the same moments in time. The entire production team does a strong job of keeping the muted background where it belongs - in the background. Touches of humor occasionally slip out, offering respite from the penetrating, powerful dynamics - until the next tsunami."
Stage Scene LA- Somewhat Recommended
"...Unfortunately for both Dee and the audience, the living hell experienced by motherless daughter Corrie rivals the worst Charles Dickens ever conceived, turning a child who might just as easily have been raised by loving adoptive parents into the victim of one despicable couple after another. (Her first adoptive mother sends her back, Daddy number two sexually abuses her, and don't get me started on her three foster moms.)"
ArtsInLA- Recommended
"...As all the other characters who wander through the story, Gonzalez is exceptional in his lightning-speed transformations, especially hilarious in his final turn as Corie's baby daddy, a dreadlocked, heavy-metal rocker with a clear nod to early Keanu Reeves. Harmon has more difficulty separating the personas of her characters, who all seem to have the same rhythms and eye-rolling exasperation of her original appearance as Dee's That '70s Show –like mother, but it's easy to see that delineation could fall more into place as the run of the play continues."
Gia on the Move- Recommended
"...There is a brilliance in the simplicity of this production. Intricately navigated detail in scenic and sound design, lighting, and costume, is amplified by the indefatigable comic timing of the chorus (Adrian Gonzalez & Amy Harmon) who interchange character roles, and wholly on-the-mark direction by Tony Albatamarco. The entire cast fully breathes this story to life; lead actress Corryn Cummins (Dee) most of all. If ever there was an exact, on pointe performance, this is it. Cummins defies all stagecraft, immersing this story in amped believability. Cummins fluidly steps into the role of an adorable, teenage girl and respectively returns as a sober, rational adult, clueless about the serious disaster of her daughter's life, yet compassionate."
Stage Raw- Recommended
"...Hill's play has a raw elemental power that delivers an emotional wallop, and both Dee and Corie emerge as larger than life figures, with surprising stature and a startlingly gritty reality. Director Tony Abatemarco has cast the piece beautifully, and gives it a passionate and loyal production. Both Cummins and Slezak deliver vivid, credible, gut-wrenching performances while all the other roles are played by a chorus of two. In a wonderful display of versatility, Adrian Gonzalez portrays all the fathers, boyfriends and lovers, including a shaggy metal-head musician, with Amy Harmon as the many mothers, nurses, counselors and nuns."