Chicago Tribune - Somewhat Recommended
"...I think this production needed higher stakes and more emotional intensity throughout. Visually, it often struggles to find its center and there are times when it feels like Pryor is just working at a different pitch from everyone else. With this kind of writing, where ordinary language hides great personal feeling, everything has to be ratcheted up to meet its demands, albeit not at the expense of veracity. That’s a tricky needle to thread and this staging sometimes struggles to create either enough scene-by-scene tension or a consistent world."
Chicago Reader - Highly Recommended
"...There have been several intriguing plays about siblings dealing with loss onstage this year, including Leah Nanako Winkler’s The Brightest Thing in the World at About Face Theatre and the current production of John Patrick Shanley’s Brooklyn Laundry at Northlight. Charly Evon Simpson’s Jump, now in a midwest premiere with Shattered Globe Theatre under AmBer Montgomery’s direction, continues the mini-trend, and it’s well worth seeing.
Let's Play Theatrical Reviews - Highly Recommended
"...Director Amber Montgomery, a rising star, skillfully balances comedy and drama in Jump, which provides an inspiring testament to the power of love and the need for understanding the mental health of loved ones. The cast artistry is incredible, touching the audience's hearts to remember that we must celebrate the times we have the one we love."
Around The Town Chicago - Recommended
"..."Jump" is a sobering play about wrestling with thoughts of suicide. We see how each character is obsessed with death in their own way and how each one entertains the likely or remote possibility of ending their own life or thinking about loved ones who might choose to do so. But how do we know if and when other people are contemplating suicide or not? What are the circumstances that might make a person decide to jump? Many people may fail to recognize (or not even realize) when someone near and dear to them might dare entertain this manner of thinking. Or they may get it all wrong. The best part of this show is its focus on the unpredictability of suicide and how death affects those who must live with its consequences."
Chicago Theatre Review - Highly Recommended
"...Charly Evon Simpson's short one-act might seem to be simply another cautionary story about mental health. It's not all that simple. There's a great deal of finesse and artistic flair provided in this production by everyone, both on- and off-stage. Possibly inspired by a magazine article about those who had attempted suicide by jumping from the Golden Gate Bridge, this imaginative play is more fanciful. It invokes moments of magical realism to probe the backgrounds and reasons behind such an act of desperation."
Buzznews.net - Recommended
"...The acting and sets are really good, the climax gives a surprising and satisfying resolution. But with so little real action, the pace given “Jump” by director AmBer Montgomery leads up to the resolve much too slow. And while “Jump” is about grief, the playwright doesn't register the internal emotional suffering of these grieving individuals. We’re only given the outward effects."
Third Coast Review - Highly Recommended
"...This production certainly meets its program’s goal of “bridging heartbreak and hope.” As the NAMI statistics flyer states, this play reminds audience members that they are not alone in their struggles. As Fay and Hopkins bond and clash over their respective mental health journeys, they unpack the weight of others’ expectations for them and how to accept help when they need it."
Chicago On Stage - Highly Recommended
"...In Charly Evon Simpson’s Jump, vape pens mysteriously fall from the sky (and a character repeatedly catches them). Lights weirdly crackle and flicker. Two strangers on a bridge, one of whom came to jump off, spontaneously burst into a raucous dance to the Proclaimers’ 1998 song “I’m Gonna Be (500 Miles).” And this is all in the first five minutes."
MaraTapp.org - Recommended
"...As someone far too familiar with the grief of losing a spouse and a parent, Jump spoke to me. I'm not sure the circumstances that occupy the center of Charly Evon Simpson's play, ably directed by AmBer Montgomery, can ever be fully understood but Jump makes an admirable effort to do so. What it does even better is to examine the grief of those left behind with too many questions and such great sorrow. Even if you have yet to experience that, the way this play plumbs loss, memory and human connection makes it worth a trip across its arching bridge."
Chicago Culture Authority - Recommended
"...You never know what anyone else is going through. It's often the person you least expect. When people tell you they're fine, they might actually be desperate for help. These are the well-worn truisms explored in Jump, Charly Evon Simpson's one-act drama about the impact of suicide on a family. But Shattered Globe's Midwest premiere production, directed with kinetic flair by AmBer Montgomery, explores these themes in authentic, moving and often-surprising ways."
NewCity Chicago - Highly Recommended
"...Each actor embodies their roles with natural ease and superb timing. Pryor nails the role of dejected millennial while allowing flashes of vulnerability to seep through. Glasse is the prototypical mean older sister whose cattiness underlies the powerful development that occurs in her character by the end. Kurysz delivers gallows humor with the panache of a professional comedian. Wilson plays the inebriated family patriarch with finesse, and his uncouth behavior is undercut by his basset-hound eyes and gruff, but lovable demeanor. One could not ask for a more capable cast."