A Chicago critic wrote, " They are racial, those hands and feet, " while a Boston reviewer felt that the show's flimsiness and lack of structure were actually attributes because " when we succumb to the surreptitious desire for the broad tang of " nigger " humor, we want no disturbing atom of intelligence busy-bodying about . " Meanwhile, many black reviewers ignored the show's faults, praising Williams'continued persistence and prominence as much if not more than his actual performance; an Indianapolis reviewer thought the play was evidence that " we are nearing the day of better things . " Despite the good if loaded notices, " Mr . Lode of Koal " played a secondary string of theaters and was a box office flop.
