REVIEWS
EUREKA DAY
Colt Coeur Production - NYC
"The perfect play for our age of disagreement...[Eureka Day] is not only one of the funniest plays to open this year, it is one of the saddest." Ben Brantley, New York Times (Critics' Pick)
"So brilliantly yoked to the current American moment—its flighty politics, its deadly folly—that it makes you want to jump out of your skin...I’m still trying to figure out how hard is appropriate for a critic to laugh at the theatre; this night, I made myself hoarse." - Vinson Cunningham, The New Yorker
"Wonderfully spiky...Spector and the expert cast extract comic gold from the little tugs-of-war for control" - Adam Feldman, Time Out New York (Critics' Pick).
"Eureka Day is not to be ignored...this caustically funny but trenchantly provocative comedy...devolves into one of the funniest comic whirlwinds on the current-day stage." - Steven Suskin, New York Stage Review (5/5 stars)
"Prepare to be triggered into fits of laughter by Eureka Day, an extremely funny and ultimately thoughtful new comedy." Michael Sommers, New York Stage Review (5/5 Stars)
"A blisteringly satiric and provocative play...this may just prove to be the best play of the year, certainly one of the most challenging and engrossing." Victor Gluck, Theatrescene.net
"That it treads in such surefooted fashion from farce to heartbreak to gloves-off confrontation is a testament to author Jonathan Spector's nimble way with his characters...One is struck by Spector's remarkable facility for skewering his characters' affectations while allowing them their humanity. It's a pretty devastating combination and it helps to explain why Eureka Day is both loaded with laughter and armed with plenty to say about the way we live now." - David Barbour, Lighting and Sound America
"Both hysterically funny and deeply profound...despite the lampooning of so much of modern life in this play, Mr. Spector’s generosity of spirit is too great for any easy answers." Sue Rosenbluth, Two Sues On The Aisle
"Uproarious satire...a shrewd, cunning laceration." This Week In New York
"Like the best satire, Eureka Day will provoke discussion and a sense of the real dilemmas of communicating in a deeply divided society. Spector’s mastery of liberal jargon captures the tenor of the left-wing pieties and marks him as a smart new voice in theater." - Edward Karam, Off Off Online
"Topical, brilliant and timely." - Suzanna Bowling, Times Square Chronicles
"It is as timely a play as any for the times we live in today...would that real life were as entertaining and expertly written." Nella Vera, Culture Vulture
"Written by Mr. Spector with precision and biting insight...detailed performances bring out the truthfulness, sadness, and hilarity in Mr. Spector’s very timely play." - Adrian Dimanlig, The Hangover Report
Aurora Theatre Production - Berkeley
(Highest Rating) "Jonathan Spector's play is so crisply defined that you might have to periodically remind yourself that you haven't already met these characters in real life...Spector proves as much as master of pathos as of comedy." - San Francisco Chronicle
"Talented playwright Jonathan Spector has achieved the almost impossible. He’s created an exceptional play that is laugh-out-loud funny, yet with an intelligent and introspective perspective...inventive, humorous and heartbreaking." - Berkeleyside
"Never has a work so successfully integrated the effect of social media, in real time, on our un-virtual lives, as Jonathan Spector's play." - SF Weekly"
"There’s a scene toward the end of the first act in local playwright Jonathan Spector’s world premiere “Eureka Day” at the Aurora Theatre Company, that’s so funny — the audience will likely be laughing so loudly — that you won’t hear a word of the dialogue. But Spector’s writing is so beautifully calibrated, so carefully crafted, that somehow that’s OK." - San Francisco Examiner
"Screamingly funny, belly-laugh funny.... Eureka Day is a rarity, a profound comedy that hits on all cylinders..." - KPFA
“Eureka Day” may spark some agitated post-show conversations eerily mirroring the ones in the play. That just goes to show how keenly observed the comedy is. It hits awfully, gut-churningly close to home". - The Mercury News
"What a show...one of the funniest, laugh-out-loud-fist-in-mouth twenty minutes we have seen in years." SF Theaterblog
"Eureka Day is theatre at its best" - Dogmom's Dish
"A hilarious and wise comedy...Eureka Day” is a delight. Spector’s play tells us all about ourselves." Theatritus.com
"A highly engaging, often hilarious, yet increasingly disturbing and thought-provoking examination." Theatre Eddys
GOOD. BETTER. BEST. BESTED.
"Wonderfully inventive. Each character reveals multiple dimensions, thanks to Spector's artistry...director Lauren English captures every nuance of this delectable comedy; she's the perfect match for Spector's sly sense of humor and deep empathy for the human condition in the age of anxiety...funny, charming and oddly affecting." - San Francisco Examiner
"Its dialogue is so crisp, its characters so compelling and real, that I was happy to sit back and enjoy watching humanity take a nose dive into the pile of glass shards of the broken dream of America that is Las Vegas." Talkin' Broadway
"The corkscrew escalation of the one-of-a-kind production “Good. Better. Best. Bested.” delivers hysteria on a luxurious golden platter. Audiences should strap in, because the comedy provides one hell of a ride...glistening, enthusiastic, satiric and wild" - Sophie Kim, Daily Cal
"Are we ready for the conversation that Spector is designing in his surreal and satirical vision of Las Vegas at the brink? Maybe it’s the Next Big Thing."
-Tyler Jeffreys, Theatritus
"It’s an entertaining, fast-moving, emotional roller coaster of a production, shifting effectively between episodes eliciting side-splitting laughter, serious reflection, shock, and horror, all punctuated by an uneasy sense of sadness and despair that looms over even some of the most awkward and laugh-out-loud moments in this multi-dimensional comedy...Spector has crafted his characters with empathy and depth"
- Nicole Singley, Aisle Seat Review
IN FROM THE COLD
"Sometimes you can tell that a production will be good from the opening moment...the play is firing on all cylinders."
- Jean Schiffman, San Francisco Examiner
"Spector has managed to write a funny, funny play about serious themes that both moves and tickles its audience."
- Charles Kruger, TheatreStorm
THIS IS ALL I NEED (co-written with Liz Lisle and Christopher Ward White)
"inventive, hilarious and repeatedly surprising new work-captivated and captivating-reminds us that a possession isn't just a thing but also a (colonized) state of being."
- Robert Avila, San Francisco Bay Guardian
THE VAST EXPANSE (short)
"a sly satire on a generation which is searching for meaning in a complex world."
- Steven McKnight, DC Theatrescene
EUREKA DAY
Colt Coeur Production - NYC
"The perfect play for our age of disagreement...[Eureka Day] is not only one of the funniest plays to open this year, it is one of the saddest." Ben Brantley, New York Times (Critics' Pick)
"So brilliantly yoked to the current American moment—its flighty politics, its deadly folly—that it makes you want to jump out of your skin...I’m still trying to figure out how hard is appropriate for a critic to laugh at the theatre; this night, I made myself hoarse." - Vinson Cunningham, The New Yorker
"Wonderfully spiky...Spector and the expert cast extract comic gold from the little tugs-of-war for control" - Adam Feldman, Time Out New York (Critics' Pick).
"Eureka Day is not to be ignored...this caustically funny but trenchantly provocative comedy...devolves into one of the funniest comic whirlwinds on the current-day stage." - Steven Suskin, New York Stage Review (5/5 stars)
"Prepare to be triggered into fits of laughter by Eureka Day, an extremely funny and ultimately thoughtful new comedy." Michael Sommers, New York Stage Review (5/5 Stars)
"A blisteringly satiric and provocative play...this may just prove to be the best play of the year, certainly one of the most challenging and engrossing." Victor Gluck, Theatrescene.net
"That it treads in such surefooted fashion from farce to heartbreak to gloves-off confrontation is a testament to author Jonathan Spector's nimble way with his characters...One is struck by Spector's remarkable facility for skewering his characters' affectations while allowing them their humanity. It's a pretty devastating combination and it helps to explain why Eureka Day is both loaded with laughter and armed with plenty to say about the way we live now." - David Barbour, Lighting and Sound America
"Both hysterically funny and deeply profound...despite the lampooning of so much of modern life in this play, Mr. Spector’s generosity of spirit is too great for any easy answers." Sue Rosenbluth, Two Sues On The Aisle
"Uproarious satire...a shrewd, cunning laceration." This Week In New York
"Like the best satire, Eureka Day will provoke discussion and a sense of the real dilemmas of communicating in a deeply divided society. Spector’s mastery of liberal jargon captures the tenor of the left-wing pieties and marks him as a smart new voice in theater." - Edward Karam, Off Off Online
"Topical, brilliant and timely." - Suzanna Bowling, Times Square Chronicles
"It is as timely a play as any for the times we live in today...would that real life were as entertaining and expertly written." Nella Vera, Culture Vulture
"Written by Mr. Spector with precision and biting insight...detailed performances bring out the truthfulness, sadness, and hilarity in Mr. Spector’s very timely play." - Adrian Dimanlig, The Hangover Report
Aurora Theatre Production - Berkeley
(Highest Rating) "Jonathan Spector's play is so crisply defined that you might have to periodically remind yourself that you haven't already met these characters in real life...Spector proves as much as master of pathos as of comedy." - San Francisco Chronicle
"Talented playwright Jonathan Spector has achieved the almost impossible. He’s created an exceptional play that is laugh-out-loud funny, yet with an intelligent and introspective perspective...inventive, humorous and heartbreaking." - Berkeleyside
"Never has a work so successfully integrated the effect of social media, in real time, on our un-virtual lives, as Jonathan Spector's play." - SF Weekly"
"There’s a scene toward the end of the first act in local playwright Jonathan Spector’s world premiere “Eureka Day” at the Aurora Theatre Company, that’s so funny — the audience will likely be laughing so loudly — that you won’t hear a word of the dialogue. But Spector’s writing is so beautifully calibrated, so carefully crafted, that somehow that’s OK." - San Francisco Examiner
"Screamingly funny, belly-laugh funny.... Eureka Day is a rarity, a profound comedy that hits on all cylinders..." - KPFA
“Eureka Day” may spark some agitated post-show conversations eerily mirroring the ones in the play. That just goes to show how keenly observed the comedy is. It hits awfully, gut-churningly close to home". - The Mercury News
"What a show...one of the funniest, laugh-out-loud-fist-in-mouth twenty minutes we have seen in years." SF Theaterblog
"Eureka Day is theatre at its best" - Dogmom's Dish
"A hilarious and wise comedy...Eureka Day” is a delight. Spector’s play tells us all about ourselves." Theatritus.com
"A highly engaging, often hilarious, yet increasingly disturbing and thought-provoking examination." Theatre Eddys
GOOD. BETTER. BEST. BESTED.
"Wonderfully inventive. Each character reveals multiple dimensions, thanks to Spector's artistry...director Lauren English captures every nuance of this delectable comedy; she's the perfect match for Spector's sly sense of humor and deep empathy for the human condition in the age of anxiety...funny, charming and oddly affecting." - San Francisco Examiner
"Its dialogue is so crisp, its characters so compelling and real, that I was happy to sit back and enjoy watching humanity take a nose dive into the pile of glass shards of the broken dream of America that is Las Vegas." Talkin' Broadway
"The corkscrew escalation of the one-of-a-kind production “Good. Better. Best. Bested.” delivers hysteria on a luxurious golden platter. Audiences should strap in, because the comedy provides one hell of a ride...glistening, enthusiastic, satiric and wild" - Sophie Kim, Daily Cal
"Are we ready for the conversation that Spector is designing in his surreal and satirical vision of Las Vegas at the brink? Maybe it’s the Next Big Thing."
-Tyler Jeffreys, Theatritus
"It’s an entertaining, fast-moving, emotional roller coaster of a production, shifting effectively between episodes eliciting side-splitting laughter, serious reflection, shock, and horror, all punctuated by an uneasy sense of sadness and despair that looms over even some of the most awkward and laugh-out-loud moments in this multi-dimensional comedy...Spector has crafted his characters with empathy and depth"
- Nicole Singley, Aisle Seat Review
IN FROM THE COLD
"Sometimes you can tell that a production will be good from the opening moment...the play is firing on all cylinders."
- Jean Schiffman, San Francisco Examiner
"Spector has managed to write a funny, funny play about serious themes that both moves and tickles its audience."
- Charles Kruger, TheatreStorm
THIS IS ALL I NEED (co-written with Liz Lisle and Christopher Ward White)
"inventive, hilarious and repeatedly surprising new work-captivated and captivating-reminds us that a possession isn't just a thing but also a (colonized) state of being."
- Robert Avila, San Francisco Bay Guardian
THE VAST EXPANSE (short)
"a sly satire on a generation which is searching for meaning in a complex world."
- Steven McKnight, DC Theatrescene