Los Angeles Times - Highly Recommended
"...Majok has made it her mission to bring to the stage those characters who historically have played a subordinate role in the theater - the nameless, faceless workers who are hanging on by a thread in an economy that devours the weak, the marginalized and the unlucky. In "Cost of Living," Majok examines the disabled and their caretakers, whose lives can be just as precarious despite not having to cope with the physical limitations of those they're paid to assist."
Stage Scene LA - Highly Recommended
"...The costs of living are high indeed for the four damaged protagonists of Martyna Majok's 2018 Pulitzer Prize winner Cost Of Living, now being given a gut-punchingly powerful West Coast Premiere at the Fountain."
Will Call - Highly Recommended
"...Pulitzer Prize winning , Polish-born playwright Majok is a master of capturing emotions. She writes so well, the audience immediately develops genuine affection both for the disabled and the people who look after them. The cast is extraordinary, under the sensitive direction of John Vreeke. Sullivan, in real life, is an Olympic competitor and record setting champion in the Paralympics in London in 2012. She was in the original cast in the Williamsburg production. Romero, reprising her off-Broadway role, plays the gentle but firm person we'd all want in a caregiver. Solis, who jumped in recently, to take over when one of the actors bailed, has an impressive resume in stage, screen and TV work. As for Forrest, he is so perfect, the part could have been written for him. He uses a wheel chair as a result of a spinal injury."
Total Theater - Highly Recommended
"...The actors bring Majok's play to life in fearless, bold fashion. The director, John Vreeke, and the Fountain Theater itself, are also to be commended for the way they have supported diversity in theatre with this splendid production."
Cultural Weekly - Highly Recommended
"...Given the Fountain's dedication to doing plays of "diversity and inclusion," its previous and current production have expanded the term to now extend to productions that feature actors with disabilities performing on stage. Cost of Living is a stunning example of the kind of magic four good actors, able or disabled, can achieve when they're handed a good director and a remarkable piece of writing."
Showmag - Recommended
"...Cost of Living was first written by Majok as a shorter play titled John, Who's Here From Cambridge, which was preceded by a monologue Majok penned from what she describes in an interview as "a place of grief." Although the script's seams and crevices are evident in this staging - the jigsaw assembly of the play remains like faded scar tissue; nevertheless, the drama's power hits hard and its poignancy lingers long after the show has ended."
Santa Monica Daily Press - Recommended
"...The play, with all its funny, intelligent, and engrossing talk would seem to indicate where it will all end up. But it doesn't. It leads its players, and its audience, into a provocative contemplation of human need, and how one might construct a life in spite of being alone, incapacitated, and unfulfilled. And this incredibly gifted ensemble, under the powerful direction of John Vreeke, will leave you hopeful and exhilarated, and maybe just a bit more attuned to the people in your life."
Stage Raw - Highly Recommended
"...Cost of Living manages to depict humanity at its most vulnerable. None of the characters are victims, nor do they elicit sympathy of any sort. They're flawed, struggling, trying their best to get by and take care of those they love. They struggle to create meaningful, dignified connections with one other but mostly remain lonely. It's deeply, hauntingly familiar."
Discover Hollywood - Recommended
"...How the lives of these four characters intertwine and become interdependent is the subject of Cost of Living, the Pulitzer-prize winning play now running at the Fountain. Playwright Martyna Majok plunges us into the world of people with physical disabilities, asking us to feel their feelings, meet their challenges, and dream their dreams. But the point is not to elicit sympathy from the audience; it is to ask us to look at our own, equally disabling, feelings and challenges."
On Stage and Screen - Recommended
"...There are times when a more cohesive narrative could make these stories even more powerful, but more importantly, these are stories and perspectives not often seen, and works like Cost of Living are critical in terms of increasing visibility and inclusion in the media for people with disabilities."
