Chicago Tribune - Somewhat Recommended
"..."Danny Casolaro" certainly is a refreshingly political piece. There are all too few political dramas on Chicago stages, especially plays dealing with a not-so-distant era that remains under-explored, at least from an artistic point of view. Script-wise, though, the main problem that presents itself is that it feels far more like Orlando has written a screenplay than a dramatic work for the theater. If that was intentional, you can understand why. A Hollywood movie, aside from the obvious rewards, is more likely to bring renewed attention to the suspicious circumstances of the demise of his late cousin."
Chicago Sun Times - Highly Recommended
"...It is the tale of two cousins who are as close as brothers. It is a meditation on success in America, and what drives people far past the breaking point. It is about the dirty, chaotic intersection of politicians, government officials and contractors with the global trade in cash, drugs and weapons, as organized crime and the media dance around the periphery. And it even delivers an intriguing homage to Ernest Hemingway."
Chicago Reader - Somewhat Recommended
"...Was Casolaro murdered because he was closing in on something big? Or did he commit suicide because he'd lost his equilibrium to a fantasy? The trouble with Danny Casolaro Died for You is that it wants to answer yes to both questions. On the one hand the script offers us a portrait of a manic enthusiast whose grandiosity gets the better of him, causing him not only to conjure the Octopus but to misrepresent himself variously as a reporter for Time and a colleague of legendary political columnist Jack Anderson. On the other hand, as the title suggests, it tries to tell us he's right. Much of what Casolaro was looking into turned out to be at least arguably real."
Gapers Block - Recommended
"...Nick Bowling's direction takes us smoothly back and forth in time from Danny's research and interviews to the later investigations of his death and interrogations of his cousin. Collette Pollard's scenic design and Jesse Klug's lighting succeed in highlighting these scenes so that one set serves as office, airport, restaurant, hotel room or jail cell. Josh Horvath's original music and sound design add to the tension."
Time Out Chicago - Somewhat Recommended
"...Director Nick Bowling does his best to make sense of all the intrigue with a relatively spare, three-quarter round staging, with Philip Earl Johnson, Jamie Vann, Dennis William Grimes and Mark Richard coming and going as various shadowy figures. But the play's ending, which departs from the style of the two hours that came before it, feels like an arbitrary act of catharsis for the author, perhaps, but unsatisfying for the rest of us."
Theatre By Numbers - Highly Recommended
"...Seeing these complicated political agendas unfold through the players that enacted them, versus on the bland page of a history textbook or declassified documents via FOIA, personalizes them. Three of the actors play one role apiece in the play; the other three mix it up with multiple roles. All are well-cast and extremely skilled."
Stage and Cinema - Recommended
"...Urgent, cinematic, and breathlessly intense in everything but its intermission, TimeLine Theatre Company’s true-life exposé of a truth-teller and his martyrdom delivers a heavy dose of thinking theater. Its rather un-ironic title accuses the audience as much as the authorities. Soon to become a feature film, Danny Casolaro Died for You unsubtly imposes an “attention must be paid” obligation on its viewers as much as the theater: We must make sense of what inept police in West Virginia in August 1991 preferred to call a suicide."
ChicagoCritic - Highly Recommended
"...If you are a middle-aged leftist, and most theatre-goers are, this show is not to be missed. Even if you’re not, you’ll probably feel like one by the time you leave. To be sure, this story is from the point of view of Casolaro’s relative, and the author made no attempt to hide that, even though he used a fictional character in his own place. But if you want to see an effective piece of political theatre, this is it."
Around The Town Chicago - Highly Recommended
"...One thing is a constant when attending a production at Timeline Theatre. whether at their home base or another venue; quality story telling and a lesson in history. Currently, on their main stage located at 615 West Wellington is the Chicago premiere of “Danny Casolaro Died For You” written by Dominic Orlando and based on the true events relative to a high level conspiracy to hide information about these clandestine events. Orlando has based this mystery on the actual notes that his cousin left behind, unveiling the way in which our government and all of its arms plotted together in many instances to protect the parties they represented."
Chicago Theatre Review - Highly Recommended
"...This isn’t an easy-going, casual entertainment; however, for the thinking theatergoer, this production is the mother lode. Paced faster than a French farce, this is a play for discerning audiences who enjoy being totally immersed in events that encourage making observations, formulating personal judgements and synthesizing those events and characters into their own experiences. Adding to the experience, the TimeLine lobby has been transformed into an exciting, interactive maze of information that extends the audience’s ability to grasp the variety of names and facts. TimeLine has once again succeeded in making history come alive."
Chicagoland Theater Reviews - Recommended
"...“Danny Casolaro Died for You” might have connected to the viewer with more immediacy had it opened 20 years ago when the incidents were still fresh in the informed viewer’s mind. A spectator bludgeoned with accusations of government and business wrongdoing in recent years may react to the show’s indignation with a “What else is new?” shrug. But while Orlando’s play is no “All the President’s Men,” it is well acted and staged and raises issues that can be disquieting, especially to conspiracy acceptors. Even patrons who might not fully buy into the conspiracy premise will find the play entertaining theater."
