Chicago Tribune - Highly Recommended
"...thanks to the intimacy and truth of Steven Fedoruk's forceful production for Eclipse Theatre, 'A Memory of Two Mondays' packs one heck of an emotional punch at the Greenhouse Theater Center. Fedoruk clearly understands that this is a fundamentally existential play about the difficulty of coming to work 'every morning and every morning, no end in sight.'"
Chicago Reader - Highly Recommended
"...Though Miller's 75-minute script is weak--a collection of character sketches in search of a plot--it's worth seeing for the beautiful acting by Steven Fedoruk's 14-member ensemble, each of whom gives a pitch-perfect performance. Mike Winkelman's set and the lighting by Chris Corwin and Nathaniel Swift enhance the production's evocative atmosphere."
TheatreMania - Recommended
"...
The script shows its age in part by the sizable number of actors it calls for; Fedoruk ably choreographs scenes in which a dozen laborers pursue their various tasks. His ensemble fills in Miller’s stereotyped sketches brightly, even if they rarely exceed these limits: Ruiter brings a glad gee-whizzery to guileless observer Bert, while as the poetic and doomed Irishman Kenneth, J.P. Pierson acquiesces to the cruel ways of the world with an air of rueful nobility. Vincent L. Lonergan, playing the hotheaded, guilt-ridden Gus, spits out fiery expostulations in clipped, not entirely broken English. Perhaps most memorable is Josh Venditti’s seething Larry, eternally seeking a raise that never arrives. If it sounds like a mixture of Ibsen and Taxi, well, that’s pretty much the territory that the revival of this seldom-seen play commandeers for itself."
Copley News Service - Highly Recommended
"... The scene stealer in the production is Vincent L. Lonergan for his flamboyant Gus. Brandon Ruiter is excellent as Bert, the innocent young man who stands outside the daily life of the warehouse and might be the only one to escape the web of futility that snares the rest of the characters. Malcolm Callan is outstanding as a catatonic drunk who has reformed by the end of the play into a moralizing bore. Joshua Venditti perfectly captures the dead-end futility of a man hanging on by his economic fingernails, trying to support a family and finally yielding his dream of owning a nice automobile. Kevin Scott is perhaps the one tragic figure in the play, the young Irishman finally defeated by the tawdriness of his life."
ShowBizChicago - Somewhat Recommended
"...Though “Two Mondays” suffers from some uneven pacing, the one-act play simmers consistently from a slow beginning to a rewarding end, and—unlike the careers of its characters—is worth the pay-out in the end."
ChicagoCritic - Highly Recommended
"...This is a terrific ensemble production filled with heart-wrenching performances. Vince L. Longergan, John Ruhaak, Joshua Venditti and JP Pierson were particularly outstanding. Brandon Ruiter led the way as the optimistically young man determined to live life to the fullest. This rare gem mirrors one of life’s most pressing dilemmas."
Chicago Stage and Screen - Highly Recommended
"...A triumph of well-honed ensemble work, Steven Fedoruk’s 75-minute staging, the final offering in the theater’s all-Miller season (which included the equally semi-autobiographical “Resurrection Blues” and “After the Fall”), is no insulated time capsule. Vivid and true, it surges with richly-textured life. Wide-eyed Brandon Ruiter fares well as the wide-eyed, open-hearted Bert and Vincent L. Longeran's Gus pursues his doomed escape with forlorn abandon."
Around The Town Chicago - Highly Recommended
"...To complete its year of Arthur Miller plays, Eclipse Theatre Company has chosen one of Miller’s seldom produced plays, “A Memory of Two Mondays”. It is also probably one of his shortest as well with a running time of 75 minutes. Miller always had a lot to say in his plays, but for some reason, he was able to get to his point in the normal time for one act of a regular Miller piece. It may be possible that when he began this story, he thought he had more to say, and when he saw that he reached his point, he just ended it. I for one feel that this story, which takes place in the 30′s is quite relevant today. The theme of this story is the rat race we live in, a sort of rat race on a treadmill, where even though we keep running towards our goal, we seem to stay exactly where we are."
Chicago Theater Beat - Recommended
"...One could write off each and every one of these characters as losers but Miller won’t allow it. A Memory of Two Mondays is not a great Miller work. It’s a one-act trying to do too much in a small space of time with recurrent Miller themes. It carries potent echoes of Death of a Salesman. “I don’t get it,” mourns Bert, on the verge of leaving for college, “How is it me that gets out? There ought to be a statue in the park. To all the ones that stayed.” Attention must be paid."
