Chicago Tribune - Recommended
"...The chief poacher in director Sandy Shinner's taut and mordantly witty production for Remy Bumppo is Gustav (Mark L. Montgomery), who spends the first third of the play convincing his new friend, young artist Adolph (Gabriel Ruiz), that the latter's novelist wife, Tekla (Linda Gillum), has drained him of his natural male prowess and may have even caused the neurasthenic sculptor to develop a case of epilepsy. Just in case the younger man doesn't feel sufficiently eviscerated, Gustav also helpfully offers to show Adolph the blistering reviews from his latest exhibition."
Chicago Sun Times - Recommended
"...Adapted by David Greig (the Scottish playwright also responsible for "The Strange Undoing of Prudencia Hart," the inspired production recently seen at the Chicago Shakespeare Theater, as well as "Yellow Moon," the story of a modern day Bonnie and Clyde, now at Glencoe's Writers' Theatre), "The Creditors" is an intriguing 90-minute talkathon that has been neatly directed by Sandy Shinner. As often is the case with the late 19th century Swedish playwright's work, it veers between blistering misogyny and ahead-of-its-time feminism. And whatever Strindberg created, Greig clearly has pushed just a little bit further."
Chicago Reader - Highly Recommended
"...Beyond Strindberg's critique of marriage and other nonsustaining frameworks, this naturalistic drama explores notions of artistic salvation and the fluidity of the self. Mark L. Montgomery is hypnotic as Gustav, a man possessed by forces beyond his full comprehension. Under Sandy Shinner's direction, Remy Bumppo delivers a captivating 90-minute production of the Swede's still-gripping psychological drama."
Centerstage - Recommended
"..."The Creditors" is a play that asks difficult questions: what do we owe our spouses or our loves, and what do we owe ourselves? It is a testament to Shiner that this production answers exactly none of those questions, but instead makes them so engrossingly difficult to answer."
Stage and Cinema - Highly Recommended
"...Shinner's trio carries out this dark, neo-Darwinian comedy with effortless efficiency, a polish that makes the crude psychodynamics all the more repellent. Gillum has never looked lovelier, as her Tekla exercises all her wiles on Ruiz' smitten but suspicious Adolph. The proverbial serpent in the garden - and a sort of Nietzschean "superman" and 19th century Iago - Montgomery is Machiavelli himself as he sinisterly turns a happy husband into a haunted casualty. The road to his ruin is pure Strindberg, enough to make each of the show's 90 minutes either crackle, growl or explode."
ChicagoCritic - Highly Recommended
"...I must say that David Greig's version of Strindberg's Creditors has a contemporary feel as the smart dialogue and emotions with the sexual undertones that makes for a most engaging evening of theatre. Humor masks some of the mind games and the subtext of raw lust is just beneath the surface. This is a marvelous play that look gorgeous with the white curtained set (design by Jeffery Bauer) and the period perfect costumes (designed by Jeremy W. Floyd) each add to the tone of the show. But, Mark L. Montgomery is particularly effective as the determined revenge-seeking Gustav. This play is special and it deserves an audience."
Around The Town Chicago - Recommended
"...There are those who say "revenge is sweet". In Remy Bumppo's current production, August Strindberg's Dark tale of a vicious love triangle, "Creditors", we have 90 minutes of woven action between a man and his wife, as well as a past husband of the same woman. In this new version adapted/translated by David Greig, the story adds a bit more humor, but the mystery that Strindberg wove in his original still plays well. Directed by Sandy Shinner on a wonderful set designed by Jeffrey Bauer, one can see that as always, Remy Bumppo pays close attention to detail. In the the upstairs "studio" theater at The Greenhouse, the have reconstructed the stage area so that every seat is perfect for seeing all the action on the stage. It is important for you to understand that the title, "Creditors" can be a bit misleading. Most of us would think it is about money, but in this story , it is about people collecting what is due to them, or what they feel is due. In other words, their "just deserts!"
Chicagoland Theater Reviews - Recommended
"... “Creditors” probably says more about Strindberg than about his characters. The playwright obviously had ambivalent ideas about the sexes though he tended to yield the upper hand to the women in his dramas, who are typically strong, crafty, relentless, and unyielding. Tekla is a prime example of the Strindbergian woman but she has her sympathetic side. She excuses any abrasive conduct by claiming that it’s who she is. Gustav has his villainous qualities but he’s been driven to extremes by abuses endured in the past and one has to admire his opportunistic skill as a revenger. Adolph is basically in over his head, a decent young man who unfortunate loves a wife he can’t handle. They all form a complicated trio who we may not want to know in real life, but they certainly make stimulating company for a brief interlude on the stage. And the tentacles of this short-ish drama extend deep into modern American theater, as anyone who has seen “Long Day’s Journey into Night” and “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?” will verify."