John Doe Reviews
Chicago Tribune- Recommended
"...It's a strange trip but also strangely exhilarating in its unapologetic indulgence, anchored by hypnotic performances by Wesley Walker as poet Alexander Walpurg (yes, his name echoes the "Walpurgisnacht," or witches meeting, from German folklore), and by Holly Thomas Cerney as achingly vulnerable Sister Anna, ordered to tend to him in the hellish snake-pit asylum where he's imprisoned for "dementia praecox." A trio of Freud-and-drugs-obsessed doctors use him as their personal guinea pig. "Poison the hopeless cases slowly is always our secret motto," one declares, a sentiment that wouldn't be out of line in "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest.""
Chicago Reader- Highly Recommended
"...Detained in a mental hospital, a poet named Walpurg is saved from a lobotomy only to be subjected to the ministrations of a cracked Freudian, a forbidding mother superior, and various sadists. (When the asylum staff wear lab coats and head bandages, it's time to worry.) Walpurg strikes up an affair with Sister Anna, the young nun sent to sooth his savage breast, and the rest is careening. Except for its final moments, which devolve when they should explode, St. Dziuk's staging is funny, frightening, and--thanks to Wesley Walker's Walpurg and Holly Thomas Cerney's Anna–unexpectedly beautiful. Johnny Graff is a hoot as the Freudian."
Stage and Cinema- Highly Recommended
"...Anchoring the production are Walker and Cerney’s raw, revelatory performances. Cerney, more so than the other actors, portrays her character’s interior state through body language, including rapid movement, awkward contortions and coiled limbs. One of Walker’s finest moments is the sheer delight bordering on the orgasmic with which he consumes a McDonald’s Happy Meal. Also enjoyable is the campy Graff, whose wide-mouthed, toothy grin and jerky gait are both hideous and humorous. John Doe is the kind of head-scratching drama that sends shivers down your spine and hesitant laughter out of your gaping mouth."