“3 Stars! Life teaches us that the funniest people we know often have been through the most personal trauma… Laughter can be the only coping mechanism available… an uncommonly raw and moving exploration of that intersection: it is a sweet-and-sour meditation on whether or not it’s healthy to laugh at really terrible things… (playwright) Strafford, who snagged a role in “Monty Python’s Spamalot” on Broadway, is a very funny guy, who also has been through some really tough stuff… filled with kind-hearted and generous acting… Cruz is fabulous throughout.” — Chris Jones, Chicago Tribune

“Ryan, the bright, witty, psychologically damaged protagonist of Steven Strafford’s dark domestic comedy (played with uncommon power and pathos by Esteban Andres Cruz) begins the play by dividing all comedians into three types: the Godzillas, who come on strong, firing joke after joke; the more subtle Mothras, who hold back but then destroy the audience with a few well-aimed quips; and the Gameras, clumsier than the other two, but equally devastating. Ryan is not just talking about comics, but about himself and his brothers—and part of the beauty of Strafford’s sly, well-crafted play lies in how this metaphor plays out over the course of its 90 minutes.” — Jack Helbig Chicago Reader

“The plays produced by 16th Street Theater usually stay with you for a while. I often find myself thinking about them for days, wondering what will happen next to the characters we get to know so intimately during these intense productions. Such is the case with Small Jokes About Monsters… This tightly-written work by Chicago actor and playwright Steven Strafford is hilarious and heartfelt... Under the direction of Kristina Valada-Viars, this ensemble has established great chemistry.” — Doug Deuchler Oak Park Wednesday Journal

“playwright Steven Stafford provides something unique to this Midwest premiere: his biting sense of humor. Crucially, Stafford’s wit is not mean. Small Joke about Monsters treats all its characters  with empathy for the difficult circumstance it puts them in, Mom included… Highly Recommended” — Jacob Davis Picture this Post

“It’s a delight to see the four adept actors in 16th Street’s staging bouncing off one another—not least because not every theater in town would cast these four actors of varying ethnic backgrounds as a biological nuclear family in a contemporary drama, without going out of its way to explain it all. That’s a credit to 16th Street, Strafford, and director Kristina Valada-Viars—who’s also an actor herself, and perhaps thus has an imagination more open to letting good actors act. And that’s what you get here. Even when the circumstances of the plot reach their most jolting, fine-tuned work by the likes of the stalwart Slater and the vibrant Cruz (a performer so full of joy Marie Kondo would tell you to order him by the dozen) keeps you leaning forward in your seat… A study of humor as defense mechanism and of the fractured and sometimes fractious nature of memory, Strafford’s Monsters is worth the trek to the suburbs.” — Kris Vire Storefront Rebellion