In the Wake Reviews
Chicago Reader- Somewhat Recommended
"...Between bouts of relationship battling and political speechifying, clips from the nonstop news cycle are projected against the back wall of Rachel Rauscher's plain, domestic set for this production by the Comrades. Bush II defeats Gore. Bush II mutters threats into a megaphone at Ground Zero. Helicopters pull bodies off of rooftops in New Orleans. As each chaotic blip fades to static, it's clear that some connection is being posited between the footage and the play, but the two run on parallel tracks, never meeting up."
Windy City Times- Somewhat Recommended
"...Despite being politically top-heavy and too long, In the Wake has its moments and generates empathy, in part because of Kron's skillful character writing and in part because the cast successfully sustains the character lines through a long play, especially Sengenberger as Ellen."
ChicagoCritic- Not Recommended
"...Kron’s characters don’t seem real, but only around to move her agenda. When you overwhelm audiences with too many ideas, throw-in loads of politics, put the lead character in a contriductory relationship delimna, we besome irritated. I felt manipulated, became confused, and ultimately unsatisfied with this work. Ellen’s blind spot became Kron’s since she didn’t realize that she grossly overwrote In The Wake. It sure was a long 2 hous and 30 minutes."
Chicago Theatre Review- Recommended
"...In Lisa Kron’s fascinating drama we meet a protagonist who’s liberal, smart, compassionate and given to unedited, heartfelt oration. She understands all the right things to say and knows all the right answers. But Ellen’s mistake is that she fails to see and overcome her own blind spot. This is her fatal flaw. In the end she finally understands what she’s been missing and Ellen finds that, as Amy has explained to her, the negative space has ultimately taken over her life."
Picture This Post- Recommended
"...Tucked into the Greenhouse’s downstairs studio space, The Comrades’ production of IN THE WAKE pulls off the near impossible. Lisa Kron’s play premiered in 2010 as a personal-political snapshot of the ‘naughts, beginning with the contested 2000 presidential election and ending five years later, around the time of Hurricane Katrina. More than one character onstage declares this as the worst of all possible times. In the muck-filled context of today’s political scene, the production manages to make Kron’s dialogue seem more prescient than naive."