"AMERICAN BEAUTY SHOP is a powerful illustration of the cycle of poverty. Formby gives us real people stuck by their choices, their comfort levels and the surrounding circumstances. She even ends the play with two ways; the best outcome and the worst outcome. It’s a poignant message of how life can change drastically in an instant. AMERICAN BEAUTY SHOP is the unattractive, sad reality of too many Americans." - The Fourth Walsh
“The system is broken, but it was always designed to fail the vast majority. It is an illusion that all who have wealth are deserving of it, implying that those without, are wholly responsible for their own misfortune. The women in American Beauty Shop have ambition and the appropriate fortitude to push for better days, but the cards are stacked firmly against them. They know only to participate in a game that gives them miserably poor odds, and as we watch their fates unfold, it is the lack of fairness in our increasingly capitalist worlds that must leave an impression”- Suzy Wrong, Sydney Theatre Reviews
"A witty, hilarious and tragic play that will have you both holding your sides with laughter and holding your breath with emotion. All five of this entirely female cast had moments that made you laugh and made you want to cry." - Entertaining Chicago
"How many stories do we find in popular culture about working-class American women in small towns?... Fortunately, Dana Lynn Formby plants her flag firmly in the dusty soil of Western towns...and examines the women who are hanging on by their fingernails." - Chicago Tribune
“Formby's best encapsulation of the tensions inherent in small community life and the precariousness of working-class life reside in the fiction between mother and daughter and between Sue and her alcoholic sister Doll (Janine Watson). These scenes are sharply observed. Formby's thoughts on the state of the nationstand somewhat proud from the domestic ebb and flow, but not so much they trip you up.”- Jason Blake, The Sydney Morning Herald
American Beauty Shop
It’s hard to pull yourself up by your bootstraps in this economy—Sue should know. It’s harder when you’ve got kids, even whip-smart, talented ones like Judy. Sue has big dreams for both her basement beauty shop and her daughter, who’s anxiously waiting for a letter from Berkeley that could change her life. Armed with tough love, combative humor, and an uncompromising work ethic, Sue is struggling to balance her own livelihood and Judy’s future. A heartfelt play about the true cost of dreams.
Published by Bloomsbury Methuen 2016
Steppenwolf, First Look Series, August 2014
Florida Studio Theatre, Richard and Betty Burdick Reading Series, May 2012
Steep Theatre, Backyard Reading Reading Series, February 2012
Illinois Shakespeare Fest, June 2011
Chicago Dramatists, Saturday Series, January 2011
Produced by Some Company, Sidney Australia, 25 august - 16 September 2017
Produced by Chicago Dramatists, May 7, 2016- June 5, 2016
“Verdict. This was a tough, gritty women only drama that kept one engaged. With the warmth and intimacy of the Kings Cross Theatre and the heartfelt performances by a strong cast, this was a special night in the theatre.”- David Kary Syndeny Arts Guide