Chicago Tribune
- Highly Recommended
"...The joint has barely enough room to swing a rapier. And it could never have accommodated the egos, spittle or fiscal demands of Tyrone Power or Douglas Fairbanks. But when it comes to swashbuckling literary adaptations, Lifeline Theatre has the corner on the retro market."
Chicago Sun Times
- Highly Recommended
"...thanks to Lifeline, I am a complete Zorro convert. Credit Katie McLean's zesty, playfully romantic stage adaptation of the 1919 pulp fiction classic by Illinois-born Johnston McCulley; director Dorothy Milne's action-packed, endlessly ingenious, deliciously tongue-in-cheek staging; Alan Donahue's handsome mission-style architectural set, and Geoff Coates, whose power-packed fight choreography is performed just inches from the audience."
Daily Herald
- Recommended
"...Like every good melodrama, "Zorro" comes with a manipulative score. And like every good swashbuckler, it features great sword-fighting, with Elly and Kauzlaric making especially well-matched opponents. Geoff Coates earns praise for his rollicking fight choreography. Exploding across Lifeline's small stage, it dominates the action-packed second act of this wonderfully good-humored show whose flirtation with camp takes nothing away from what is a jolly good evening of theater."
Chicago Reader
- Highly Recommended
"...Katie McLean's very lean adaptation has fun with the conceit, as James Elly alternates between the effete nobleman and the gallant crusader (the dreaded "Curse of Capistrano"). Though no Latin lover as he attempts to romance the much-sought Lolita (plucky Rosa de Guindos), Elly ultimately delivers charming suavity while Geoff Coates's sword fights are just serious enough to keep Dorothy Milne's staging from churning into camp--a real risk when the bad guy (Robert Kauzlaric) does everything but twirl his moustache."
Windy City Times
- Highly Recommended
"...Katie McLean's adaptation progresses with an efficiency that has us eagerly anticipating each new event, while Dorothy Milne's direction sets a brisk, but never hurried, pace that propels us along at a tempo where never a second is wasted in self-conscious sniggering."
Chicago Free Press
- Recommended
"...Director Dorothy Milne lends the proceedings the right light touch, giving plenty of play to the comedic tension inherent in the bizarre love triangle, which pits Don Diego against himself for the affections of Lolita, played with appropriate feist by Rosa de Guindos. (Another partial descendant of Zorro’s, Superman/Clark Kent, has the same trouble with Lois.) It wouldn’t hurt if Elly and de Guindos took a few beats more, in certain tense moments, to appreciate the ever-increasing stakes in their dangerous love affair, but it’s hard to fault the rollicking rhythm Milne and company builds."
EpochTimes
- Highly Recommended
"...This small cast handles a multitude of roles and many costume changes (great work by Branimira Ivanova) and under the direction of Dorothy Milne they move about the small set by Alan Donahue with great ease. The choreography by Jasmin Cardenas and fight choreography by Geoff Coates adds a great deal to the realism of the production. What would Zorro be without sword-fights and to make this happen in this limited space had to have been a great challenge, and one that was met to perfection."
Copley News Service
- Highly Recommended
"...The backstage kudos start with Dorothy Milne’s amazing direction, squeezing a remarkable amount of action and crowd scenes fluently onto that small Lifeline stage. Alan Donohue’s set is dominated by a replica of an adobe mission building exterior that allows Zorro plenty of sudden derring-do entrances from atop the pile, supplying the production with vertical as well as horizontal energy."
Centerstage
- Recommended
"...Despite a decisively mixed review with palpable pros and cons, the fundamental tenant of romance and the importance of courting is an exquisitely worthy message to bring center stage."
HollywoodChicago.com
- Somewhat Recommended
"...With 13 actors on stage and 19 additional among management and tech, it’s admirable to see so many components attempt to tick soundly together. Unfortunately, this decision didn’t yield an idyllic symphony. Instead, the choice revealed patently weak links."
Time Out Chicago
- Recommended
"...Milne’s staging, despite its relatively small scale, has many of the elements that make Zorro so exciting onscreen: swelling music to underscore the romantic scenes, kinetic sword fights (skillfully choreographed by Geoff Coates) and a breathtaking chase scene in which a swinging light fixture stands in for Zorro’s steed (it shouldn’t work but somehow does)."
ChicagoCritic
- Recommended
"...Lifeline’s The Mark of Zorro delivers enough action and humor to win our hearts. James Elly’s Zorro was a likeable hero who never takes himself too serious."
