"I was moved by Mr. Love’s willingness to imagine, amid the terror of the times...other kinds of lives than the ones that history books offer. And as embodied by the fine performers here, those lives really do seem alive...But every time the play began to engage me through character it disengaged me through plot contrivance...What the actors can overcome, the story often cannot...The language, too, can seem awfully rich, perhaps deliberately in a play about oratory and faith."
Read more

"Love may have a lot to say about black queer resilience and God’s bounty, but he hasn’t worked out how to gracefully deliver information...Both characters are stuffed with qualities that only emerge when they’re mentioned...It’s not the actors’ fault that they’re unable to make coherent characters out of this chaos of impulses and characteristics; it’s impressive, therefore, whenever they make an isolated speech ring with confidence. This happens in fits and starts."
Read more

"Its language and design create a fearful panorama...'Fireflies' aims for an emotional forte early on and doesn’t often vary its pitch...It’s like a very rich meal, eventually dulling the very senses it seeks to sharpen and satisfy...Part of me wanted to see the play that comes after 'Fireflies,'...That’s a play I haven’t seen. Despite the fine performances that drive 'Fireflies' forward, its tone and trajectory ultimately left me feeling like it was one that I had."
Read more

"One seriously overstuffed 90-minute drama...The work barely has room to breathe, with the playwright delivering an emotional whiplash-inducing series of plot revelations and reversals that stretch credibility to the breaking point...It's no fault of the actors, who deliver persuasive performances that are all the more impressive under the circumstances...While there's no denying its noble intentions and theatrical and thematic ambition, 'Fireflies' fails to take flight."
Read more

“Jaw-dropping and explosively dramatic...The second part of a trilogy...’Fireflies’ stands up on its own as a powerful tale of love flashing its light in the dark... All cuddles and kisses, Wise and Davis convincingly play a young couple...Director Saheem Ali artfully unveils the dynamics of this relationship...A drama of extraordinary depth and complexity...Love thrillingly crafts an intimate story that comes to feel cosmic in its enormity by the end. I can't wait to see the third installment.”
Read more

“A lot to pack into a ninety-minute two-hander, and I'd be lying if I said that Love has managed the task elegantly and seamlessly; he seems to be aiming for a hybrid of magical realism and kitchen sink domestic drama, a match that doesn't totally take...But Love is a talent...who knows how to create bristling, wounding confrontations...Love wins for originality, too: He composes a dark but compelling countermelody to the standard anthemic account of the Civil Rights movement."
Read more

“The second offering in 'The Love Plays'...‘Fireflies’ is a powerful exploration of a marriage filled with secrets...It packs a wallop in its oblique allusions to the life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and boasts two superb performances...Love's skillful script uncovers secrets the way a great chef peels an onion, and Ali directs with subtlety and understatement...The two plays come thrillingly together. It will be exciting to see Love's conclusion to the trilogy."
Read more

"In light of the explosive material with which he concerns himself, I’m inclined to wave away a reviewer’s standard concerns. His dire authorial concerns are that pressing...I take the position that if Love is overdoing it, it’s because he wants to be certain that no one is tempted to dismiss his conviction that the wages of racism remain too high to be paid by contemporary society...Directed fiercely by Saheem Ali and played with mounting ferocity by Davis and Wise."
Read more