Fefu and Her Friends at Halcyon Theatre at Christ Lutheran Church

Chicago Tribune - Recommended

"...Finding that balance between a careful and carefree life is just one of the underlying motifs in this play. Adams' staging itself doesn't always strike a balance. The second act, where the women gather again after their private conversations, feels a bit saggy. But Fornes' gift for shattering our expectations about both conventional drama and the trajectory of women's relationships leaves some beguiling shards embedded in the brain after the final curtain."

Chicago Reader - Somewhat Recommended

"...Uncertainty, of course, is part of the game.) Like the all-female cast here, Fornes and her longtime partner, Susan Sontag, rejected marriage and heteronormativity. In fact, the S/M relationship between the character Paula and her former lover, Cecilia, will feel familiar to anyone who's read Sontag's recently published journals. The madwoman in the play, Julia, is the most fascinating of the group; as Fefu sees it, she has chosen this fate. Unfortunately, Halcyon Theatre isn't up to the challenge of Fornes's vision, which demands swifter pacing and an ensemble far more in sync with each other-and with the text itself."

Windy City Times - Somewhat Recommended

"...It's interesting and complex material, made more so by a three-part structure. Parts I and III gather all the women in Fefu's living room while Part II offers four simultaneous scenes in four rooms of the house. The audience divides up and promenades between scenes, which are repeated until everyone has seen them all. Director Tony Adams ( a man ) and his designers ( Nicholas Schwartz, scenic; Cat Davis, lighting; Jessica Mondres, properties ) do a nifty job with the physical staging on the third floor ( no elevator ) of a church hall, but the play's emotional and psychological depths are not fully realized. Yes, Fefu and Her Friends has some splendid moments, such as de la Cruz's extremely intimate solo scene in a tiny bedroom, but too much seems charmingly facile, typical of Fornes' style but just the surface of the play."

NewCity Chicago - Somewhat Recommended

"...Here, under the direction of Tony Adams, the scene-to-scene walkabout is distracting. While watching one scene, the audience can see or hear what’s happening in the other rooms. Though this adds to the collective madness of the show, the noise and visibility of two scenes at once makes it hard to find footing in an already complicated play."