Chicago Tribune - Somewhat Recommended
"...I'm generally a huge fan of the exploitation of the hugely talented videographer Mike Tutaj's famous ability to work with stock images and historical footage, but, in this show, so many of them come and go that you find yourself inured. At least we did not have to see the bathroom on the plane."
Chicago Sun Times - Highly Recommended
"..."Chimerica" is now receiving a riveting Chicago premiere by TimeLine Theatre - that peerless company devoted to work that probes history in the most unexpected and engaging ways. And under the razor-sharp direction of Nick Bowling, who has gathered a uniformly impressive group of Asian (and Caucasian) actors, and deployed the talents of set designer Brian Sidney Bembridge and master projection designer Mike Tutaj, it keeps you watching, listening and guessing for close to three fire-breathing hours."
Windy City Times - Highly Recommended
"...Chimerica's near-three-hour running time initially requires some patience. But audiences should be awed and taken aback by the Kirkwood's masterly intertwined story filled with suspense and introspection on the clashing and interrelated ideologies of China and America."
Time Out Chicago - Recommended
"...The dense script seems like it might have been better off a novel, despite the uniformly fine acting on display in Nick Bowling's Chicago premiere. Even at an occasionally tedious three hours, some of Kirkwood's ideas get short shrift. But then she finally wraps things up in a not-at-all-neat bow in a breathtaking final image, one that could only be achieved in the visual juxtaposition between stage picture and Mike Tutaj's expertly designed projections. In a story where the heroes are hiding in plain sight and the enemies are murky market forces, Chimerica's hybrid beast is all too frighteningly real."
Stage and Cinema - Somewhat Recommended
"...In a way the audience is too-by a too-processed play. With multiple tonal shifts and an unwieldy cast of uncertain characters, clouded waters just get muddier. Kirkwood throws as many obstacles in our way as in Joe's, registering multiple perspectives on whether truth ever sets us free. Much here is at best inspired speculation, too clever to convince. This geopolitical puzzle play is powerfully probed and immaculately performed, but at play's end it remains exasperatingly uncommitted. Losing its way amid its manufactured twists, it's the textbook definition of the fanatic who redoubles his energy once he's forgotten his cause. You leave, more likely to think "So what?" than "So true!""
ChicagoCritic - Recommended
"...I must say that the strongest parts of this work lies in the observations into the lifestyle of contemporary Chinese and their government. We quickly realize that we Americans know so little about 21st Century China. Chimerica opens that door a tad."
Chicago Stage and Screen - Highly Recommended
"...Chimerica is a striking and compelling vision of the modern world and the two superpowers that control much of it, but its strength lies in the characters. Kirkwood examines the things that blind people to their own flaws and the way that countries and people make well-intentioned but hurtful and sometimes fatal errors. The twelve-person ensemble under Nick Bowling’s strong guidance holds one’s attention for the full three hour running time. Even if not all the twists and turns in the speculative thriller are plausible, they create a space for reflection on politics, globalization, protest and the media that is worth watching."
Around The Town Chicago - Highly Recommended
"...Timeline Theatre, located in their home on Wellington, is always a theatrical experience, not just a play. They bring plays to Chicago audiences that deal with actual events and history allowing us to think about some of the history that we have been alive for (at least when you get into my age bracket). Their current production, the Chicago premiere of "Chimerica" written by British playwright, Lucy Kirkwood, is one that will grab your attention from the very start and hold you there for three hours (there is an intermission), but it will seem as though the play was much shorter because of the slick direction of Nick Bowling, who keeps the action moving from scene to scene."
Chicago Theatre Review - Highly Recommended
"...Nick Bowling's incredible production is filled with moments of intense emotion as well as bittersweet romance and a pulsating air of mystery. The pacing, while somewhat slow at first, builds steadily as the drama unfolds before our eyes. Bowling's brilliant cast work effortlessly to bring Lucy Kirkwood's fascinating characters to life. Each scene is like a building block, stacking up more facts and creating additional tension that rises as questions mount; in the end, the answers make this voyage worthwhile."
Third Coast Review - Highly Recommended
"...The writing is clever - "you could teach a Sphinx how to Sphinx" and "God forbid your opinion should go unexpressed" - and modern Chinese economics are also explored (1.3 billion pragmatists who use credit, but only if they have the money before they spend it - and what was in Tank Man's shopping bags anyway?), as well as environmental issues: Chinese police make sure smog is referred to as fog, even though their intense, unregulated air pollution causes a "third world death in a new world China.""
