“A suburban family invites the neighbors to dinner...It sounds punishingly ordinary. It is. It is also an out-and-out thrill...Ms. Kobayashi’s tender obsession is as catching as the chickenpox, and if the piece is forthrightly funny and briefly pornographic, it is also sneakily moving...'Say Something Bunny!' is about more than the particulars. It’s a low-key ontological thriller about how we live and what we leave and how we account for ourselves when some kid comes at us with a microphone.”
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“The play unspools unhurriedly, leaving space for Kobayashi to make jokes, play short films and highlight points of historical interest. It takes a while for it to sink in that—of course—many of these vibrant people must be long dead. The experience of ‘Say Something Bunny!’ is light, sweet, funny and dear. But Kobayashi’s deep humanism has a way of moving you, even days later. She sifts through the details of strangers’ lives, a prospector who knows that the sand itself is precious.”
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"The personalization of the experience caused the line between performer and spectator to blur to such an extreme degree that I almost forgot where I was. I've never experienced a feeling quite like that before, and it's all thanks to Kobayashi's gentle demeanor and dedication to finding the truth...While you might not have seen theater like this before, once you start listening, you can't get enough of the story that unfolds."
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"One of the oddest and most captivating entertainments of the new season...Kobayashi's warm, sympathetic presence draws the audience in...Working together, she and her team have conjured -- almost out of thin air -- a one-of-a-kind performance piece that speaks volumes about families, changing times, and middle-class life in America in its post-World War II heyday."
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"Hands down the best theatre experience of the 2017-2018 season...You should just buy a ticket now—any serious theatre-goer needs to see this show. 'Say Something Bunny!' is unlike anything I’ve seen—both daringly experimental and incredibly accessible, it is one of the only times I’ve ever left a show vowing to return...At its core, one of the most enjoyable mysteries I’ve encountered in a very long time...The amount you learn by the end of the evening is astounding."
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"Kobayashi marshals an ethnographer’s appreciation for cultural and historical context, a genealogist’s relish for placing relations on a family tree, a private investigator’s instincts to follow any lead and connect all the dots, and a storyteller’s flair for filling in the empty spaces. But it also says something about her capacity for empathy. This isn’t just a project to her; it’s a family’s lives she is holding in her hands."
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“I was particularly taken by ‘Say Something Bunny!’…Not only visually appealing, but it's also gentle, smart, and warm. It simultaneously paints a vivid portrait of a family and brilliantly reflects the artist's obsession with—even love for—said family, which she has partly and painstakingly documented, and partly invented…It is an impressive, extraordinarily well-researched and executed piece, that manages as well to be deeply touching and quite funny…An amazing accomplishment.”
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"The everyday becomes enthralling in 'Say Something Bunny!,' a surprising new show that discovers compelling mysteries where the most intrepid sleuths wouldn’t expect to find them...A highly entertaining performance that takes the audience on her journey. It provides the thrill of storytelling with all the excitement of a mystery...The audience slowly feels the emotional force of Kobayashi’s work and inevitably begins to care about the Newburges."
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