Los Angeles Times - Recommended
"...He wrote "Arrival & Departure" for husband-and-wife actors Troy Kotsur and Deanne Bray, who perform regularly with Deaf West and on television. Kotsur performs in ASL, of which he is a master, his face as powerfully expressive as his hands. Using a hearing aid, Bray speaks as well as signs, delivering a breathtaking, heart-tugging performance. The other six members of the cast are hearing."
Broadway World - Recommended
"...Sachs knew what he was doing when he wrote this play for Bray and Kotsur. Both are fine actors whose individual rhythms work in tandem to present a compelling picture of the human heart in action, in all its messy, emotional uncertainty."
LA Splash - Highly Recommended
"...Director Stephen Sachs helms the cast with compassion and keen attention to detail. But it is the lovers who carry the show. Troy Kotsur's use of his facial expressions and graceful hands make mere words fade into unimportance. He is an ASL genius who can express every emotional nuance in a new, powerful, and spine-tingling way. There is clearly a profound connection between his hands and his heart."
Stage Scene LA - Highly Recommended
"...A deaf New York film professor and a hearing-impaired bookkeeper fall head over heels into adulterous love in Arrival & Departure, playwright Stephen Sachs' 21st-century updating of Noel Coward's über-romantic cinematic classic Brief Encounter, a compelling, excitingly staged, terrifically acted Fountain Theatre World Premiere whose script could still use some work."
On Stage Los Angeles - Recommended
"...Having discovered Stephen Sachs with his beautifully mounted Bakersfield Mist a few years ago, I had high expectations for this important play to discuss hearing issues as well as the ideals of commitment and scruples. What does one do when lightning strikes us directly in the heart? Arrival & Departure does not disappoint. It is a kind and insightful story of love."
Will Call - Highly Recommended
"...The most remarkable detail about this production is that much of it is "spoken" in ASL but never distracting due to the skill of Adam Burch and Stasha Surdyke, who perfectly synchronize their voices so they sound just like they came out of the mouths of our protagonists, Emily and Sam. All the emotion, fervor and hesitations are there. This takes talent but they make it look easy. Of course, the captions always clarify any of the dialogue you might have missed. The lovely Sturdyke comes into her own in the final scene as Emily's ditzy friend, Marjorie. This is a show that does justice to Fountain Theatre's reputation for quality, reliability and stimulating repertoire. You won't be disappointed."
Cultural Weekly - Not Recommended
"...In brief, these are too many surprises of the wrong kind and they include one more. Sachs, who has written a number of very successful plays, delivers an unusually flat and mundane text for this one. Certainly the choppy scenes and the diversion of attention dictated by the complicated delivery of the play become a big issue. The weakness of the acting, perhaps hampered by the play's structure and direction, plays into this as well."
Theatre Spoken Here - Recommended
"...Adding to the intensity of the play are parallel stories, with Jessica Jade Andres and Shon Fuller (Waitress vs. Subway Cop) teasing and battling in their longing to connect honestly. Aurelia Myers' troubled teenager searches desperately for love on social media. Brian Robert Burns is touching as Emily's sincere but mystified husband, while Adam Burch and Stasha Surdyke are splendid in multiple roles."
Stage Raw - Recommended
"...It's no surprise that Bray and Kotsur have such great chemistry onstage since these two engaging actors are actually married. Fuller is endearing as the lovesick Russell, and Andres brings heart to the tough-as-nails character of Mya. Brian Robert Burns energetically plays Emily's religious zealot of a husband Doug, and Myers excellently conveys the frustrations of surviving middle school."
Discover Hollywood - Recommended
"...Mr. Sachs is obviously at the top of his game as both writer and director (he is also co-founder and co-artistic director of the Fountain). The staging, design, integration of supertitles and ASL, never gets ahead of the audience. The Fountain creative team, too many to list here, balance storytelling, design, and technology to create Art."
Theatre Ghost - Recommended
"...Arrival and Departure is a lovingly conceived adaptation of a classic tale, and a well-wrought piece of theatre. But in these difficult years, we must also ask of each new work, "Why this story, and why now?""
On Stage and Screen - Recommended
"...While the story told in Arrival & Departure may not be breaking the mold, the form it is told in is. It is wonderful to see Bray and Kotsur, two talented deaf actors, get to tell this story, giving deaf and hard-of-hearing patrons accessible theater and hopefully teaching hearing audience members something about deaf culture and communication barriers they may not encounter in their everyday lives. It is quite intentional that the setting in which Emily and Sam have some of their most revealing conversations in silence is a New York City subway station, one of the loudest environments in modern life, and that juxtaposition provides a nice lens into a classic story with a new twist."
The Los Angeles Beat - Highly Recommended
"...Arrival & Departure is an exquisitely acted, deeply moving, must-see play written by award-winning playwright, director, producer and co-artistic director of the Fountain Theatre Stephen Sachs."
Peoples World - Highly Recommended
"...Those playgoers who already know the film Brief Encounter will anticipate how this 90-minute one-act work will end, but either way, the getting there is an entrancing and uplifting ride. And such a gift to be able to enter the non-hearing world in this inviting piece of theatre."
