Chicago Tribune - Highly Recommended
"...The theatrical metaphor is apropos. Shannon's raging, wild-eyed, wholly engrossing Jim McKee, a longtime professor of acting married to Kirsten Fitzgerald's Melissa, a shrink, is a terrifying but hugely entertaining parody of a parent. He's one of those men whose insatiable improvisational and performative inclinations rage at every inappropriate moment, especially when center stage threatens to belong to another. Although weirdly likable in Shannon's telling, McKee likes to write Byzantine family contracts with addendum, provisos and consequences, and is forever reminiscing about his collegiate theatrical triumphs, and cannot even pretend to talk to his kids without dispensing bon mots from such scribes as Tennessee Williams, Arthur Miller or David Mamet, in whose work he remains buried to his neck."
Chicago Sun Times - Highly Recommended
"...Neveu's play, which takes its title from John Bunyan's 17th century Christian morality saga, also happens to be a supremely sly (often laugh-out-loud) satire and critique of 21st century fundamentalism in the broadest possible sense of that term. Alongside religious zealotry (which is really a subtext here), Neveu skewers intellectual, artistic, political, social, moral and legal fundamentalism in all their many forms. The "family," which just happens to be preparing to celebrate Thanksgiving, simply provides the accessible entryway."
Chicago Reader - Somewhat Recommended
"...Pilgrim's Progress presents monumental stylistic challenges: it's not parody, satire, farce, or horror but somehow all of these. Director Shade Murray astonishingly fashions a world at once lucid and surreal, sensible and senseless. His exemplary cast's layered, precise performances make all but the most overconceptualized moments true. Those moments accrue late in the show, making for an unsatisfying conclusion. But the journey there is gloriously, disquietingly puzzling."
Windy City Times - Highly Recommended
"...This Red Orchid production features a dream-team ensemble helmed by Shade Murray. Michael Shannon-almost unrecognizable in his middle-aged-academic drag-delivers a homecoming performance in full eye-rolling ranting-in-tongues mode. He is flanked by Kirsten Fitzgerald's serene Melissa, Ryan Bourque's scrappy Desmond and Charlotte Mae Ellison's laconic Rania. The plot ( which mandates smashed crockery only 20 minutes after curtain ) hurtles along at volatile pace to a Big Reveal leaving us uncertain of its connection with the John Bunyan allegory referenced in the title, or whether the McKee clan is simply making it up as they go, for that matter, but by then we have become sufficiently aware of the evils that beset this temporal world to wish these pilgrims, flawed as they are, whatever safety we can grant them on their precarious spiritual journey toward a true peace."
Time Out Chicago - Highly Recommended
"...Shannon, back at his theatrical home base, gets to employ his unnerving weirdo intensity in the service of comedy, as he rarely gets to do in his screen roles. He and Fitzgerald, who deftly conveys a combination of touchy-feely and bull-in-a-china-shop, are a hoot together. Bourque and Ellison get their own moments to shine in Shade Murray's staging, which could possibly benefit from a little more calm; right now, three quarters of the show is dialed up to 11. But if Neveu's comedy is heightened, its pilgrims make you want to follow their trek."
ChicagoCritic - Somewhat Recommended
"...But the terrific performances by Michael Shannon and Kristen Fitzgerald with spirited work by Ryan Bourque and Charlotte Mae Ellison gave the show depth. Humor reigns with large doses of theatrical references plus psychological bits told through absurdity. I admire the acting here, it's the lack of motivation of the McKees that rendered the comedy silly and over-the-top. You'll either love or hate Pilgrim's Progress but you'll definitely love film star Michael Shannon's manic efforts."
Around The Town Chicago - Recommended
"...There are some moments of effective comedy. I especially enjoyed the visual of the steam from the cranberry sauce fogging up Michael Shannon’s glasses. All the performances are terrific; Shannon is not only fully committed to his mania, but responsive to the minutest subtleties of his scene partners, and somehow makes a caricature not fully believable, but acceptable and amusing. As loud and cantankerous as he is, Fitzgerald is just as arrogant, but in a deadpan manner lacking in affectation. Ellison is a mixture of bitterness and vulnerability, who appears to be passively enduring her parent’s games, while Bourque matches them in pretentiousness, with occasional flashes of disbelief and moral disgust. It’s impossible not to think that this is how Albee’s George and Martha would be if they had children to indoctrinate, but for one thing: motivation."
Chicago Theatre Review - Highly Recommended
"...But in the end, “Pilgrim’s Progress” is unlike anything on a Chicago stage right now, and that alone is reason enough to recommend it. Was I moved? Not necessarily. But was I entertained, challenged, exhausted? Certainly."
The Fourth Walsh - Highly Recommended
"...Neveu's script is an intricate word play. Besides Shannon's ongoing theatrical narrations, Fitzgerald pops up with patient stories. The delightfully inappropriate Fitzgerald reveals confidential information in her efforts to relate to the current situation. When Ryan Bourque (Desmond) arrives, he adds another layer of associations to the discussions. Bourque talks dirt...literally or recites Whitman in his desire to stay grounded in this flighty family. Between all the contractual, theatrical, therapeutical and scientific citing, Neveu skillfully navigates us between fact and fiction. Is this really happening in this family or this a bizarro fantasy? At one point, Shannon forces Bourque and Ellison to act out the terms of the contract. The moment is riveting and surreal."
