The Light Reviews
The Boston Globe- Recommended
"...Loy A. Webb's "The Light" at Lyric Stage Company uses a simple, short - just 70 minutes long - frame to build to a dramatic confrontation that explores an area where Black women are undervalued and ignored. Along the way she examines the notion of trust, trauma, and how hard it can be to let down your guard after your faith in people - OK, men - has been shattered. The fact that her set-up involves a fairly ordinary couple - a firefighter named Rashad (Dominic Carter) and his girlfriend of two years, Genesis (Yewande Odetoyinbo), a Chicago charter school principal - only emphasizes the effort Webb's protagonist has made to look whole."
The New York Times- Highly Recommended
"...THE LIGHT now on at LYRIC STAGE. This beautifully staged and explosive two-hander is deftly directed by Jacqui Parker who guides her two-person cast through a roller coaster of emotions as they try to navigate a pivotal point in their relationship without going off the rails."
The Arts Fuse- Somewhat Recommended
"...Loy A.Webb's two-hander script, The Light, deals with a Black couple in Chicago whose loving relationship is rocked (in one evening) by a series of shocking revelations, including truths that they had kept well hidden from each other. The showdown lasts about 65 minutes - the length of a one-act. That means the script, if it is to succeed, has to make a virtue of compression, each line of dialogue and bit of business building to a confrontation with painful reality. But Webb's script isn't compact but lumpy: it squeezes its various layers together - sit-com, soap opera, social debate - into a press sandwich of a drama."
New England Theater Mirror- Recommended
"...The opening scene of The Light, the final offering of the 2021-2022 seasonat Lyric Stage, has the look and feel of a lighthearted rom-com. Rashad, a single dad who works as a fireman, is frantically straightening up the apartment of his girlfriend Genesis, a principal at a Chicago charter school, as he nervously prepares to ask her to marry him. When she arrives, she suspects something is up, but wonders if he has remembered that this is the two-year anniversary of their first date. What sounds like the premise of a thousand sitcoms soon takes a decidedly more serious tone."
The New England Theatre Geek- Highly Recommended
"...The Light examines romantic power dynamics, parasocial relationships, misogyny, domestic violence, rape, poverty, entitlement, classicism, and, of course, systemic racism in 70 minutes. Audiences will get to see unfiltered Black joy and the unfiltered misery. It's one of the most important shows you'll see this theatre season."
The Sleepless Critic- Highly Recommended
"...The Light makes the most out of its 70 minute run time. It has good pacing and escalates quickly, fueled by Odetoyinbo and Carter's natural chemistry as the show veers toward its powerful conclusion."