Chicago Tribune - Somewhat Recommended
"...Turner's performance feels like she's still searching for some of the quieter notes in Christina. She tends to veer between vulnerable anguish and fearsome declarations of power without showing us the connective tissue between these states. (The dagger she uses as a bookmark does suggest the tension between warfare and philosophy that dogs the young queen.) But though "Christina, the Girl King" occasionally feels laborious in laying out its philosophical arguments, the ensemble shines bright as it illuminates this off-kilter take on one of history's most fascinating women."
Chicago Reader - Highly Recommended
"...Fortunately, Bouchard's bold, intricate speculation creates spirited collisions between faith and reason, art and science, governance and warmongering, modernity and antiquity, and most centrally, desire and duty. While Bouchard ultimately reduces Christina's perplexing abdication to a need to live openly as a lesbian, Cor Theatre's nimble cast, led by laser-focused Toya Turner as Christina, imbue their characters with ample psychological complexity. Director Tosha Fowler turns the script's many artful incongruities into two-plus hours of buoyant indeterminacy."
ChicagoCritic - Recommended
"...And though I found the play’s themes somewhat confusing and extraneous, I did enjoy the ways director Tosha Fowler found of telling this story with such limited resources. The personal interactions are exciting, the design is evocative, and I found the conclusion, in which Christina learns the true price and meaning of freedom, moving. Cor’s production of Christina the Girl King is not perfect, nor is the script, but they are respectable, and if the story of this most remarkable ruler is new to you, you will especially enjoy it."
Around The Town Chicago - Highly Recommended
"...As I entered the The Frontier’s space for Core Theatre’s production of Christina: The Girl King, I was immediately impressed by the technical aspects of the production on display, including actors already moving and speaking inaudibly in costume. My admiration only increased for the duration of the play."
Chicago Theatre Review - Somewhat Recommended
"...The strength of this production is in learning about and experiencing this revolutionary character, a woman far ahead her time. It’s always fun to learn something new about world history and this play does just that. For many reasons, this is a play for adults. There’s an abundance of heady information for the theatergoer to take in. There’s also a fair amount of violence, bloodshed, sex and full nudity, both male and female. While this may help sell this production, patrons should be warned that the seating on audience left offers some restricted sight lines. Also, the further from the stage theatergoers are seated, ironically, the better the dialogue will be understood. Aesthetic distance is the key."
Chicago Theater Beat - Recommended
"..."Queen Christina's story is a compelling one, and overall Christina, The Girl King is worth the trip to Edgewater. Turner's performance alone makes the production a success, and Gaboriau's translation is equally excellent. If Fowler had gone in a different direction with casting Johan, Christina, The Girl King could have been that much more memorable.
NewCity Chicago - Highly Recommended
"...Throughout the play, Christina is driven to locate the physical manifestation of her soul, the very thing that causes her to stray from the apparently preordained course of her nobility. Through her examination of her own impulses, she comes to discover that she is free, to a point. From the prison of patriarchy, yes. But from the unpredictability of her desires? Bouchard and Fowler leave the question of Christina's control over the "ravages of love" unanswered. In doing so, they encourage us to ponder just how free we are and just how free we really want to be."
