Review Roundup: Critics Sound Off On Goodman Theatre's HIGHWAY PATROL

Highway Patrol starring Dana Delany celebrated opening night this week at The Goodman Theatre. The production is now on stage through February 18th, 2024.

Emmy Award-winning actor Dana Delany (China Beach, Desperate Housewives) stars in her new thriller at Goodman Theatre this winter, appearing alongside three-time Emmy Award nominee Dot-Marie Jones (Glee’s Coach Beiste) and emerging Chicago actor Thomas Murphy Molony (A Christmas Story, The Musical at Marriott Theatre and Fun Home at Paramount) in the world-premiere production.

Using Delany’s digital archives of hundreds of tweets and direct messages, co-creator Jen Silverman arranges and curates the text of the play from exchanges over Twitter—in collaboration with co-creators Dane Laffrey and Mike Donahue, who also directs. Casting is by Lauren Port, CSA. Highway Patrol appears in the 856-seat Albert Theatre January 20 – February 18, 2024. Tickets ($25 – 90; subject to change) are available at GoodmanTheatre.org/Highway or by phone at 312.443.3800. 

Delany met artists Jen Silverman, Mike Donahue and Dane Laffrey while appearing in Silverman’s Collective Rage: A Play in Five Betties at MCC Theater. For the past four years, they have collectively created Highway Patrol.

TIMESTAMP: October, 2012: “@DanaDelany, Are you married? If not, I’d marry you.” When Cam, a 13-year-old fan in a desperate medical situation captures actress Dana Delany’s attention on Twitter, she’s quickly swept into an intense, around-the-clock online friendship. But when Cam starts receiving messages from beyond, Dana is thrust into a world where unexpected revelations raise the question of how far we go to love and be loved.

Let's see what the critics have to say!

Steven Oxman, Chicago Sun-Times: But the biggest limitation here is that the story simply doesn’t have a satisfying ending and, although it raises smart thematic questions, “Highway Patrol” lags as it brings it all to a point.

Chris Jones, Chicago Tribune: 

The show has no idea how to end at present and it veers off into a different issue, really, when it should stay on point. And it certainly does not need to offer us conclusionary comfort; in many ways, that’s falling into the very trap it decries. All that said, this is already a must-see for Delany fans, I’d say. I kept wondering all night if she had decided to do this show without fully thinking through where it might lead and then hoping she could jump off that train, but in fact could not.

Rachel Weinberg, BroadwayWorld: By making the story a deeply personal narrative for Delany, creators Delany, Donahue, Laffrey, and Silverman also eskew any sense of preachiness or morality.  In an era where it’s so easy to hide behind screens and online comments, Delany generously presents a personal and raw story about her own online experiences. HIGHWAY PATROL has refreshing bravery and honesty; it’s an intriguing exploration of online identity and the connections that might be found, or that we seek to find, on our social media profiles and in our DMs. 

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