Chicago Tribune - Highly Recommended
"...Much of the acting is excellent. Along with Allan's superb work, which anchors this fast-moving show and keeps everything just slightly off balance, there is a genuinely imposing Napoleon from Blake Montgomery; a creepy and familiar political propagandist, Squealer, from Amelia Hefferon; and a simple but very moving performance from Matt Kahler as Boxer, the loyal horse whose solution to all problems is a declaration of expanded personal effort. The last few minutes, as the pigs really start playing poker in the old boss' office, is genuinely disturbing, which is a testament to how quickly you have come to care about the flawed four-legged souls suffering under animalism, abused."
Chicago Reader - Somewhat Recommended
"... Sporting animal heads and olive-green fatigues, the cast members make an admirable effort to capture the body language of the various winged and four-legged farm animals they play. But due to the somber tone and plodding pacing of Hallie Gordon's production for Steppenwolf for Young Adults, the overall effect is stilted and remote. Only Blake Montgomery, as a Stalinesque pig, reaches the appropriately grotesque level of hypocrisy and inhumanity that Orwell decried with such passion and precision."
Stage and Cinema - Highly Recommended
"...Enlivened by music (Rick Sims), action, and ideas, Steppenwolf for Young Adults’ Animal Farm opens the season on a high note. It is a production for both young and old that cannot fail to ignite the imagination and inflame the spirit. “All hail the revolution.”"
ChicagoCritic - Somewhat Recommended
"...Unfortunately, this production is too wordy, too complex and too long to hold the targeted audience. Many said on their way out that the show was confusing and boring. A trim of 15 minutes and a clearer storyline would serve the production well. Animal Farm works best for students who have read the novel so I advise teachers to get their students to read it before going to Steppenwolf to see this production."
Chicago Theatre Review - Highly Recommended
"...Steppenwolf’s exciting production of George Orwell’s frightening allegory seems even more contemporary and relevant today. As our lives become increasingly saturated by reports of astounding atrocities, epidemic diseases, new terrorist groups, wars, school shootings, local crime and the emergence of intimidating tyrants heading up new governmental regimes, the world seems to be going to hell in a hand basket while everyone simply watches and waits. Today’s news doesn’t seem that far removed from yesterday’s events, the kind that prompted Orwell to write his satirical, cautionary story. In what may be Steppenwolf’s finest production aimed at young audiences, this play is a must-see for theatergoers of all ages."
Splash Magazine - Recommended
"...While no stage version will ever be as good as actually reading the novel, Pickering and Austen’s adaptation stays faithful to the source material and to Orwell’s overall reasons for writing it. And though the dark political subject matter might be a tad too complex for its target audience to fully comprehend, it’s still an excellent production that is worth checking out, especially for anyone who has already read the novel."