​Chris Sylvie

"I came in expecting a realistic drama, but the reality of the play was so much better, and I want to sell you, if no one else has yet, on the supernatural aspects of the storytelling, which are magnificent."

Jessie Bond, Splash Magazines

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"Audiences are dropped directly into his living room, jerseys and posters adorning the wall, feeling the tension of watching a particularly close FIFA match, smelling the burning sage and Febreze as the characters attempt to rid the place of his scent." Lindsay Eanet, Howler Magazine

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"The director Christopher Sylvie uses the ensemble cast and their setting effectively and symbolically."

Patrick McDonald, Hollywood Chicago

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"And what's not to like about a running Spanish-English-Portuguese trilingual gag involving attempts to rid the apartment of a ghost with burnt sage and sprinkled drops of Lake Michigan water, led by Amelia Bethel as sorceress Leona, who learned everything she knows about placating the spirit realm from the Internet?"

Max Maller, Chicago Reader

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"With each pivot in the plot, the other characters — Milena, Leona and Coby — start to uncover secrets about themselves and how difficult it is to be Latinx in America. They discuss leaving their dreams behind to support their families, which relates to how Latinx families often guilt their children into staying put as opposed to chasing their dreams elsewhere.

The Soccer Player in the Closet, then, does a great job of laying out these different factors that contribute to the depression that first generation Americans face — which is one of the goals of the play according to Oliveira and Hannah Herrera-Greensphan, the play’s dramaturg and DePaul alumni." Marissa De La Cerda - Fourteenth East Magazine