The Kentucky Cycle is considered, by many Appalachian scholars and writers, a horrendous misrepresentation of the region. They say it just perpetuates every single stereotype, such as poverty and backwards thinking, that these people want to rid themselves. In this piece by Donesky journalists absolutely tear the play to shreds, this is because they say it doesn’t actually represent the history of the area properly. One such columnist called this, “the literary equivalent of a drive-by shooting” this is likely because Schenkken spend little time in the region and yet contrived to write a play that brought to light all the negative aspects of the region and by doing so caused serious harm to the region. The people of the region don’t believe they need help but the play stirred even JFK to act and resurrect the war on poverty and the people don’t want help but they also recognize the damage that the Kentucky Cycle did to them in the short amount of time it ran. Schenkken even recognizes, sometimes, that the play isn’t historically accurate and he says that it drifts into the mythological but by him taking those creative licenses he caused serious damage to the region.