Chicago Tribune - Somewhat Recommended
"...Set against a backdrop of still simmering tensions in Northern Ireland, there is a long bit of expositional dialogue at the start that is meant, I think, to lay out some of the conflicts happening outside the home. The narrative engine sputters at bit at first, at least in this production from director Jeri Frederickson for Irish Theatre of Chicago, but once the energy is focused squarely on the dynamic in the home, the play takes off thanks to the deeply messed up interplay between Matthew Isler's Ray, Gage Wallace's Richard and Jeff Duhigg's Gordon."
Chicago Reader - Recommended
"...While director Jeri Frederickson can't bring Belfast's political situation into focus or make sense of who the play's pivotal fourth character, Walter, is, she coaxes fierce, meticulous, heartbreaking performances from her unstinting cast. As Ray, Matthew Isler is a pathetic menace who commands the stage. But perhaps more impressive, Jodi Kingsley turns one-note Deborah into a complex character both courageous and pitiful."
Time Out Chicago - Recommended
"...The play also reveals a disturbing lack of interest in the victim at its center. A girl is raped and beaten solely so that we can see its effect on these three brothers. At a moment when shows like 2666 and Rolling are presenting far more nuanced and searching portrayals of violence against women and its effects, In a Little World of Our Own feels all the smaller."
ChicagoCritic - Recommended
"...the second half of the play develops through characters proclaiming things about how vague, unseen people will act, and other characters accepting those declarations as fact and proceeding to the next logical step. There’s also an implausible injury, and at the end, they still haven’t resolved the problem they spent the latter half of the play debating. However, despite the speed at which we have to absorb information about the foreign little world of this play, it is a competently produced thriller. Irish Theatre of Chicago exists to share Irish plays, and this one, which achieved high acclaim in its home, is undoubtedly of great significance."
Chicago Theatre Review - Highly Recommended
"...Gary Mitchell’s long one-act is a powerful, disturbing play that sheds light on an unfamiliar world far from home. It’s taut, gritty, unrelenting and honest, while it weaves a story of family responsibility and love. The production takes us on a tense journey, a what-happened and who-done-it thrill ride that can only end, inevitably, in violence and betrayal."
Chicago Theater Beat - Not Recommended
"..."Long before the blood starts spilling, Mitchell introduces a gun into the story. Per the Law of Chekhov, you know the damn thing has to go off before you can go home. The inevitable shot takes forever to arrive. Well before the purportedly climactic bang, you may well be left wishing for the damn thing to go off already so you can leave the little world on stage and return to your own."
Third Coast Review - Recommended
"...Frederickson directs this fierce drama, moving the five cast members through a day and night in the life of three brothers, who live in the family home with their dying mother. Ray (Matthew Isler) is a UDA hard man, always ready for a fight. He watches over his mentally impaired younger brother Richard (Gage Wallace), including teaching him to play poker. The third brother, Gordon (Jeff Duhigg) is about to get married and move out to live with his fiancee Deborah (Jodi Kingsley). She's a religious woman whose answer to everything is to pray. (That's not a solution that works in this environment.) Gordon and Ray argue about where Richard should live; Gordon and Deborah want to take Richard with them to their new home where they can protect him. Richard makes it clear he wants to stay at home with Ray."
NewCity Chicago - Somewhat Recommended
"...Landing squarely between tragic fatalism and the callous spirit of a careless universe, “In a Little World of Our Own” is wanting for drive. There are just too many points at which the action of the play should and very easily could have ceased. Strong performances notwithstanding, a cluttered set gets in the way of potentially dramatic moments including the climactic finale.The mystery here feels more like mere confusion and Mitchell plays his hand well before we have decided whether we actually care about these card sharks and thugs or their potential for redemption."
