“ This is the play to produce if your theater is interested in, oh, contemporary social issues, gender representations, identity questions, queer joy, or just about any other edgy, pressing issue circling the atmosphere as we speak. Also: it's just a lot of fun! John's writing is always funny, accessible and artful, but for all its shimmer, this play in particular never shies away from even the most difficult question: how do we become our truest, most authentic selves in a world that imposes its own expectations about who we're supposed to be? ”

“ In this stirring play that unearths the path between where we're headed and we're we've been, Nikki Brake-Sillá conjures a kind of theatrical alchemy--a sharp, explosive combination of struggle and triumph. Part documentary and part call-to-arms, the warmth, intelligence, and urgency of "In Defense of Ourselves" turns audience members into time travelers, illuminating the tangled threads of history that tie the present to the past. ”