Chicago Tribune - Highly Recommended
"...I doubt you've heard of the Broken Nose Theatre (I really hadn't), the young company that is acting the living bejesus out of Perlman's terrific script, there in the tiny coach house behind the Berger Park mansion in Edgewater, just a few feet from the soothing waters of Lake Michigan. Balm is not on the agenda here - but this is one of the most riveting shows of the theater season and so juicy and apropos of life as currently lived that nobody in the house Sunday afternoon was anything other than rapt."
Chicago Reader - Highly Recommended
"...Broken Nose Theatre's version, retooled by Perlman and director Spenser Davis, reflects changes in casual conversations since the 2016 presidential race and election. The result is subtle and brilliant: over weed and whiskey, Robert Altman-style conversations about social issues, relationships, politics, and adulthood collide in unforeseen ways, working wonders out of what's often a stale formula."
Time Out Chicago - Highly Recommended
"...In particular, Weiss is effectively annoying as a guy seemingly more committed to his neuroses than to the prospect of happiness, and Agba delivers a stunning blow with the second-act sequence in which she finally recognizes that her friends may not be interested in seeing her as her full self. I'm not sure I buy the dudes' collective white-privilege heel turn that follows-Perlman reportedly rewrote the denouement post-election for Broken Nose's production-but this cast sells it with some of the finest storefront ensemble acting in recent memory. Pull up a seat."
Chicago Theatre Review - Highly Recommended
"...Bravo to this electrifying and inspiring young theatre company, both for their generous mission and for offering yet another opportunity for Chicago audiences to experience this terrific, Jeff Awarded piece of theatre. Spenser Davis’ dynamic, sensitively guided production fully brings to life, once again, the powerful impact of Michael Perlman’s script. This playwright’s modern take on the comedies of Anton Chekhov, or perhaps as a twenty-first century reboot of “The Big Chill,” is smart and engaging. Here, for a limited time, is one more opportunity to enjoy true Chicago style ensemble acting at its best. Do not miss this wonderful production!"
The Fourth Walsh - Highly Recommended
"...The terrific ensemble tethers us to these friendships. We want to pour a glass and join in the merriment. And when it gets serious, we want to step in and help. We care about what happens! I want to have dinner again with this group in a year and see how everyone is doing. I highly recommend getting a seat AT THE TABLE."
Third Coast Review - Highly Recommended
"...The acting displayed here is terrific and Davis brings them together as an ensemble superbly. Agba is particularly fine as Lauren. Weiss and Linder also stand out as Elliot and Stuart. The great achievement of the director and the ensemble is that they make us feel that we might join this conversation in the future because we have come to care about the characters."
The Hawk Chicago - Recommended
"...At the Table is the runaway hit of the 2016-2017 Chicago season, and it's not hard to see why. The script, by Michael Perlman, is electric. Spenser Davis stages the production with passion, energy, and the perfect amount of overlap. When a group of young-but-not-so-young friends gather in a vacation home over the course of a year, the conversations shift to privilege, racism, politics, identity and more."
Picture This Post - Highly Recommended
"...One can see also see expert direction (Director: Spencer Davis) in the perfect timing throughout. Most memorably, when actors David Weiss and Johnard Washington share a scene where they live out the non-starter fixup that Lauren (Agba) had imagined we become aware of the no-fat or lag in time direction. Actually it starts as soon as the lights come on and Evan Linder shows his stuff as the dominating white man at the table who will hardly let anyone get in a word edgewise."
Splash Magazine - Recommended
"...Davis and his colleague, Elise Spoerlein, Associate Artistic Director and Casting Director of Broken Nose Theatre (she also stars as Chris in the play) did the casting together. Interestingly, they held no auditions- "We hand-picked the actors across the board". They chose well; each cast member is notably on point in the production."
NewCity Chicago - Highly Recommended
"...The brilliance here, from both Spenser and the cast, is in the details. It's in capturing the way that a certain subset of person (youngish, liberal, well-intentioned) actually talk and act. There is an interiority to all the performances that is striking-people searching for what they're trying to say as they say it and oftentimes coming up short. It's like Chekhov for the smartphone generation. And it's definitely a must-see."
