It was reassuring to find that the text [of Sticks & Stones] does not lose the original spirit of live theatre. The secret behind this is the way the directions for stage movement have been so carefully integrated into the poetry of the play; they are not merely instructions but a spur to the imagination of the actor or director to discover the pattern of movement best suited to the rhythm of the language and the mood of the particular incident. This is most important because Reaney's stage world is a simple open space scattered with everyday objects (sticks, stones, ropes, ladders) and, through quick changes of rhythm and shape, this space has to be transformed in the reader's imagination into whatever the situation demands of it. These transformations are surely the key to Reaney's strengths as a playwright, for they bring about an essential fusion of his poetic and his theatrical imagination; the images draw from his language at the same time as they become a part of the physical action on stage. Two examples come to mind: the image of the Donnellys hemmed in by concession lines and neighbours expressed through patterns of rope or wood on the floor of the stage as well as through the rhythmic chanting of the roads of Biddulph and the names of the neighbours; and the heroic journey of Mrs. Donnelly from Biddulph to Goderich to appeal her husband's sentence, expressed physically through the climbing of pyramids of ladders and verbally through a "solo and choral response" that keeps rhythm with the milestones of her journey. These are individual examples, but in fact the overall design of the play is richer still in its combinations of effects, reminding one of the intricacy of musical counterpoint as contrasting themes move in and around each other, inseparable strands of action and reaction reflecting in the process the suffocating closeness of the world of Biddulph that does not look kindly on independent survival. (pp. 36-7)

The play sets itself up as a deliberate rebuttal of The Black Donnellys, a violently anti-Donnelly version of the story…. Donnellys are allied firm and fast to Reaney's poetry throughout the play; they are the oppressed minority, the fighters against all odds, and finally (in this play) the heroic victors who refuse to be hounded from their land. What this means is that the theatrical design of the play minimizes as much as possible any act of hostility or violence on their part. For example, the central murder of Farrell by Donnelly is first presented by a travelling theatre troupe in a way that brings out a barbarous brutality in Donnelly. Immediately after, through Reaney's vision, we are shown how the blow was more or less accidental and that the blame should be laid on the liquor and the onlookers who "sicced [him] on by their howls of encouragement."…

This unqualified support of the Donnellys has an interesting effect on the play and the reader. In the first place the reader is given no option but to side with the Donnellys…. A further consequence of this pro-Donnelly bias is that the play by immersing us in the history of one family and thereby closing the time gap, prevents more objective consideration of the period itself and its relevance to the present….

Sticks & Stones focuses on a woman as the imaginative and supporting centre of the action. It is a striking element in the design of Reaney's play that he should choose a woman to individualize a period in which the woman's role remains relatively unchronicled. It is Mrs. Donnelly, more than Donnelly himself, who is the constant bastion of defence against the surrounding hostility; it is she who relates proudly to her son her husband's refusal to do homage to the Whitefeet in Ireland; she who journeys to Goderich to appeal her husband's death sentence; she who keeps together land and children during his absence in prison; and she who rescues neighbour Donegan from brutal assault. It is this kind of heroic action, given double emphasis through Mr. and Mrs. Donnelly, that is the energy behind Reaney's play, an energy that exults in the staying-power of the individual under continuous harassment. And, whether we like it or not, the play demands that we be carried away by this energy. What we lose in the process is breathing-space and a little distance from which to reflect on a period of violence that is a fascinating part of our historical heritage; what we gain is an excitingly theatrical story of a family and an alliance with those who are unassailable and have the will, courage and strength to stand up against the villainy of the world…. (p. 37)