Cymbeline presented by Strawdog Theatre at Factory Theater

Chicago Tribune - Recommended

"...Kauzlaric's staging, particularly in the first half, doesn't always find a way to thread the needle through the complications in the plot, despite the tidy use of Pisanio as a narrator at the top of the show. But the cunning use of a silver curtain and a few wooden packing crates to suggest everything from Cymbeline's throne room to the sanctuary cave (Alan Donahue created the set and properties) gives us a smart effective visual metaphor for how quickly love transforms to jealousy, fortune to danger, friendship to enmity. By the end, we also see that justice, mercy and love can sometimes prevail, no matter how absurd the circumstances."

Chicago Reader - Highly Recommended

"...Strawdog Theatre’s adaptation, directed by Robert Kauzlaric, sorts through the play’s dense web of cunning betrayals and mistaken identities with admirable precision. It's also inexplicably funny. As Cloten, Gage Wallace is an exquisite ham, but so is his character, a prancing prince bent both on honor he’ll never deserve and praises he’ll never receive. The death and resurrection of Imogen is a notorious crux for actors, but the scene is carried off with great success by Daniella Pereira."

ChicagoCritic - Somewhat Recommended

"...Again, Director Kauzlaric’s production of Cymbeline is an economical and straightforwardly comedic interpretation of a less-produced Shakespearean treat; and, while this execution is at the expense of the play’s more profound aspects, there is perhaps reason enough in this to see it for yourself."

The Fourth Walsh - Highly Recommended

"...It's adventure after adventure in this engaging quest for love or crown. Late in the second act, an epic war scene breaks out. The choreographed battle (Matt Hawkins, fight director) is a visual thriller especially within the small confines. It's one of many moments to love in this tale bursting with stories! To help guide us on the journey, the always commanding Petro speaks directly to the audience kicking off and closing the show. Her expressive narrations help us sort out the good guys from the bad guys. And sometimes even the bad ideas from the good guy. This Shakespeare in the (Rogers) Park has got it all! CYMBELINE is the perfect example of storefront theatre at its finest!"

Picture This Post - Highly Recommended

"...We get Shakespeare’s beautiful words swimming in our heads, a story that moves at an engaging clip with no dead spaces, and moment after moment that makes you smile."

NewCity Chicago - Highly Recommended

"...As in reality television and bad romances, the villains steal the show in "Cymbeline," especially the clueless churl Cloten, whose every appearance has his eyebrows arching into the firmament as he bellows his lines with a cadence no musician would recognize (this sounds terrible but Wallace makes an art of it). Yet Pereira's Imogen has the spunk to sass him back. The ensemble work is strong-Terry Bell and Dan Cobbler are charming as long-lost brothers and Michaela Petro is a pert commentator as the put-upon Pisanio. Strawdog makes much of the space in The Factory Theater, where crates and fabric equally become opulent palace and wilderness"