From “All My Sons” at The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis, 2017

“The four are well supported by the ensemble cast. Jim Ireland and Amy Hohn play the chatty town doctor Jim Bayliss and his good-natured wife, and Ana McAlister is the spirited young neighbor Bert. Zac Hoogendyk, as George Deever, Grant Fletcher Prewitt, as Frank Lubey, and Emily Kunkel as Lydia Lubey, have a wonderful dynamic in scenes that hint at missed love. Kunkel is particularly engaging, her character unconsciously guileless and appealing.”  -KDHX St. Louis

From “Talley’s Folly” at The Cape Playhouse Summer, 2016

“Emily Kunkel as Sally Talley has her work cut out for her. The script gives her a lot less to do than her co-star, but she brings humanity to the character who could be a stick figure in less capable hands. Sally is by turns prissy, inquisitive, demanding and, finally, honest, and Kunkel handles these changes well. She makes Sally likeable. ”  -Cape Cod Wicked Local

From “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”  at Geva Theatre Center (Spring, 2013)

“I have to say that my favorite performance in this production comes from Emily Kunkel who plays Helena. I’m certain I wasn’t the only one in the audience who was reminded of a young Carol Burnett! Kunkel brings a tremendous amount of personality, humor and physical presence to her role. Her modern interpretation makes it easy to know what she is feeling when her Shakespearean lines might otherwise befuddle us.”  -Kidsoutandabout.com

“Emily Kunkel as Helena steals almost every scene in which she appears, channeling the gawky comic timing of Carol Burnett while bemoaning her difficulties in gaining the man she loves.  When the suddenly bewitched Lysander (a lusty Sheldon Best) leaves his girlfriend and says nature has shown him Helen’s heart, Kunkel recoils and clutches her shawl to her cleavage lest he see more than her heart.  When the object of her frustrated affections, Demetrius (Ian Holcomb) is likewise entranced, she does a little happy dance.”  -PlayShakespeare.com

“Emily Kunkel plays Helena as less gawky than many others and more of an ingenue; but she can make Helena lovely and vulnerable, and then make her impishly funny.” -Total Theater

The star-crossed lovers fling themselves into boisterous physical comedy that requires some sure-footing onstage by male leads Best and Holcomb.  Brewster was a miniature spitfire as the beautiful Hermia, but it’s Kunkel as Helena who exudes a wonderful vulnerability as she suffers all manner of indignities along love’s path. -The Rochester Democrat and Chronicle