Chicago Tribune - Somewhat Recommended
"...Should you see "2666"? Sure, if you are an aficionado of Chicago theater. It is an important toehold in the ever-unfolding Falls oeuvre (again, one of the great pleasures of the cultural life in the city), but not his most sure-footed or complete. The prizefight is in perpetual motion."
Chicago Sun Times - Highly Recommended
"...Watching this Goodman production - which surely will go down as one of those landmark moments in Chicago theater history - it is impossible to escape the fact that it has arrived at a moment of immense 21st century global turmoil. The unexplained title of Bolano's book may, indeed, turn out to be prophetic. A countdown clock might be in order."
Time Out Chicago - Highly Recommended
"...One of the themes of 2666 the novel is arguably the futility of trying to understand art’s intent. Despite its occasional missteps, 2666 the play can be read as a tribute to the effort to figure art out."
Chicago On the Aisle - Recommended
"...This ambitious enterprise affords a goodly share of rewards along its meandering narrative as a sort of whodunit for intellectuals. But in the end, in its totality, “2666” as theater is a shaggy-dog story of St. Bernard proportions."
Stage and Cinema - Somewhat Recommended
"...Adapted and directed by artistic director Robert Falls and Seth Bockley, this non-novel is a highly digressive multi-narrative. It’s in effect “read to us” despite the illusion of action. Driven by bravura ambitions, it’s also a tour-de-force that doggedly, gracefully and often movingly pursues Bolano’s twisted and overladen stories within stories wherever they don’t go. It’s easy to like 2666 during moments that seem to matter, when it does more than deliver dialogue. It’s daunting to prize it in its intimidating entirety."
ChicagoCritic - Highly Recommended
"...One of the most anticipated, bizarre, and audacious works in the American theatrical landscape finally makes its debut at the Goodman after years of development. 2666, adapted from the posthumously published novel by Roberto Bolaño, is a five-hour long epic narrative which, like the Chilean author’s novel, radically changes styles with each act."
Around The Town Chicago - Highly Recommended
"...The Ttile of the very Special Event" at The Goodman is hard to make sense of. "2666" is a five-part "Novello" based on the book written by Roberto Bolano, adapted by Robert Falls and Seth Bockley to be performed as a World Premiere on the stage of the Owen Theatre of The Goodman. It is an epic portrait of the world we live in and how the artists fits into this world. The performance that I was witness to was an amazing, albeit long journey into the world of literature, crime and love as told in Bolano's novel. I must tell you that it is more of a theatrical experience than a story-telling experience with five distinct parts. The actual meaning of the "2666" never comes out, but the original novel is a culmination of themes and obsessions of the author Bolano."
Chicago Theatre Review - Somewhat Recommended
"...Despite the magnificence to be found in this production, it really must be appreciated as a work in progress. It’s ambitious and daunting, but it’s also gut-wrenching, unexpectedly funny at times and as informational as it is inspirational. This play, adapted from one of the most celebrated novels of the 21st century, certainly cries out to be told on stage. There’s no question as to the intrinsic theatricality of the novel that inspired this production. However, for this play to work it simply needs to either be reduced to a digestible size or broken up into two or three separate installments, like “Angels in America.” And like Tony Kushner’s Gay Fantasia on National Themes, this important play could become another international hit and prize-winner."
Third Coast Review - Recommended
"...The Goodman Theatre's new production of 2666, adapted from the massive novel by the late Roberto Bolaño, takes five stories and threads them loosely together with a couple of mysteries that keep us wondering until the end. And the end is five-and-a-half hours after we first sit down in the Goodman's Owen Theatre."
NewCity Chicago - Highly Recommended
"...It is incredibly refreshing to see a big-budgeted production that is evidently disinterested in the cynical business of recouping on its investment. Adaptor-director duo Robert Falls and Seth Bockley’s vision goes so completely against the logic of big theater so as to feel unprecedented or at least like a firm dismissal of the “please the subscriber base” model. That this event is made possible by the Tennessee state lottery and a former monk is the kind of cosmic detail that I’d like to think would make Bolaño grin."
