Chicago Tribune - Recommended
"...Since most Americans long ago picked one side or another in these matters of faith and science, the trickiest part of such drama is making the audience feel like something actually is in play — that real-time dramatic events can change people's minds. Thanks to Fromm and a cast that does not fall into the trap of condescension, you actually do feel moral righteousness flowing, first to one side and then to the other, and you feel the doubt of the opposition. All are healthy tools for improving mutual understanding."
Chicago Sun Times - Highly Recommended
"...Under director Keira Fromm's expert direction, the actors capture just the right tone. The subtly charismatic Spence has a velvety voice that can suggest countless subtle meanings, and her face is a lovely map of shifting emotions. Jackson, reedy and wired, is eerily focused, with clenched body language that speaks as loudly as his words. And Kupferer brings just the right touch of provincial levity, shrewdness and need to the story."
Chicago Reader - Recommended
"...It also comes as something of a revelation in the context provided by Rivendell's previous show. Both Look, We Are Breathing and this play concern women struggling with identities that are as much self-imposed as socially sanctioned. That those struggles are catalyzed by run-ins with teenage boys gives them an added poignancy. Because boys are the future of men, aren't they?"
Windy City Times - Highly Recommended
"...The deliberate absence of overt clues pointing to the final revelation disclosing Trieschmann's intent allows us to succumb to the same mistakes as the well-meaning but clueless Susan and Gene, both so immersed in their own cosmological views that they neglect the teenager driven by paranoid narcissism-as what teenager is not?-to agonize over his complicity in calling down divine wrath upon his community, who can take no comfort in the reassurances of mentors oblivious to the nature of his self-alleged crime. Inhumanity being the worst of sins according to believers and secularists alike, we share blame for the suffering of young pilgrims imprisoned by their own ignorance."
ChicagoCritic - Recommended
"...While some dialogue sounds unnatural at times, and the ending certainly leaves something to ponder over, How the World Began offers an emotionally stirring story with substance for personal reflection - for men, women, Christians and non-believers alike."
Around The Town Chicago - Recommended
"...from the beginning up until nearly the very end, the play's drama and tension come mostly from Sarah's relationship with Micah and his problems, not Susan's, as the his character's background unfolds and the extent of the tragedy and trauma in his past slowly becomes clear. (He has been suffering from severe psychological symptoms since his father was killed in the Tornado.) Nor is the play new. It premiered in London during 2011 (an admittedly strange place for a play exploring the tension between science and religion through the lens of rural Kansas) and was staged again in New York City in 2012."
NewCity Chicago - Highly Recommended
"...Trieschmann’s dramatic focus shifts from one character to another in triangulated patterns such that any moment of unity is illusory. Each individual character is constantly dealing with two people they cannot possibly fathom. It’s a gutsy technique, one that pushes audiences to the edge of discomfort. By the time the play concluded, I felt as though I hadn’t taken a full breath in nearly ninety minutes. “How the World Began” is the kind of play that you will want to run away from but one you’ll be so glad you didn’t."
