Paul is a Chicago playwright and his best known play is Busted City, a play centered around the election of Mayor Harold Washington in 1983. The following reviews were written in the fall of 2012 by patrons of the play who watched the performances at Fuller’s Pub and later posted their reviews on the Goldstar ticket-buying site. These reviews were rated as either 4 or 5 stars.
All Goldstar Reviews
Great dialog, really captured the time. Putting it in an actual neighborhood bar was brilliant. As a Harold supporter who lived through the actual events, it brought a lot back. The ending also points out how far we have yet to go as a city. The racial/ethnic divides inChicagoare far from gone.
Written on Sep 24 2012
Very realistic dialogue, the feelings and emotions of the characters were well represented. Not being a native ofChicago, the historical factoids taught me a lot. I thought using a real bar was a stroke of genious. Very strong language, not for the faint of heart.
Written on Oct 02 2012
Trenchant and tough-minded. I thought the acting was considerably better than the Reader critic did.
Written on Oct 01 2012
Excellent! As stage minimalist as it comes: takes place in it’s natural setting: a west side bar.
Keeps you at the edge of your seat even if you’re not Chicagoan. Flawless directing, using space constraints creatively, great script and always timely topic: human rights, prejudice and politics..Some superb acting. You gotta love Arch and the gay guy…oh..almost forgot: very funny as well…
Written on Oct 01 2012
very realistic; enjoyable memory of the 1983 mayoral election and how personal prejudices play into political divisions.
Written on Sep 27 2012
A play set in a bar, actually in a dive bar. How cool is that? A raw, important event inChicagohistory that changed the city for the better. I had just moved here a year before, so it still surprises me how bad the good old days were. Well written and acted.
Written on Nov 12 2012
This play expertly captures the incredible emotional drama that grippedChicagoleading up to Harold Washington’s election as mayor in 1983. It is great, both as a historical document and an artistic achievement. Not to mention how nice it is to be able to watch a play while drinking at a bar.
Written on Oct 29 2012
A great setting for a wonderful show which brought back some old memories.
Written on Oct 22 2012
it was excellent. hillarious. all the characters did great. really enjoyed the trip back to the times
Written on Oct 22 2012
I really appreciated how the Pub was set up. No bad seats!
Written on Oct 08 2012
In it’s essence, this is a really good play and I totally recommend it. There are a lot of historical references some that I knew and some that were revelations.However, as an African American it was really hard to sit through the offensive racial slurs. I expected some offensiveness but wow! For the playwrite, I guess he was privy to this type of talk among caucasion Chicagoans. Goldstar is Great. It helps get the word out about small yet good productions like this one. I don’t think I would have known about this play if not for Goldstar. We really enjoyed the play.
Written on Oct 06 2012