Reviews & News

Laureen E. Smith takes the stage with a gentle grace tinged with regret. Smith’s performance evokes the matriarchal ease of Helen Hayes if she were hiding something too frightening to acknowledge.

J. Walker, DC Theatre Scene

As Mrs. K, Laureen E. Smith — dressed in a dull floral dress and a drab cardigan — simply sits in her chair and talks to us for the longest time. Smith and director Kasi Campbell play it cool, allowing Cho’s script to lull us into a comfortable sense of security….….there’s no faulting Campbell’s calm production or the cast’s very clean, unhurried acting. Mrs. K probably does two-thirds of the play’s talking, yet Smith resists any temptation to turn it into a showy part. Smith’s patter isn’t flighty or fussy; her approach is low-key and persuasively normal, as non-threatening as that ever-present plate of cookies.

N. Pressley, The Washington Post

And speaking of authenticity, Michael Tolaydo and Laureen E. Smith are so heartbreakingly real as Alan Strang’s parents it’s enough to take your breath away….. Smith and Tolaydo look like they just wandered in from the back room of a village store, keeping calm and carrying on

T. Lejeunem brightestyoungthings.com

The supporting cast is full of gems, including a wrenching turn from Laureen E. Smith as Alan’s mother Dora…

M. Lieberman, DCist

Of the supporting cast, special note must be made of Laureen E. Smith as Dora, Alan’s pious mother, and the figure whose moral dictums, combined with her husband Frank (Michael Tolaydo) and his fierce crusade against television and media, infect Alan’s mind and serve to poison his soul to the point that he is at the mercy of Equus himself.

E. Althoff, Washington Times