| Chicago Sun Times - Somewhat Recommended
"...while the Eclipse Theatre revival of the play -- all three acts and three hours of it -- is an ambitious undertaking, it too often begins to feel like "southern fried Chekhov." There are quite a few things to admire in this revival -- the first of three productions of various works by Hellman to be staged by different companies in the coming months."
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Time Out Chicago - Somewhat Recommended
"...Once Eclipse’s actors sink their teeth in, they never let go. But a second-act upswing doesn’t quite sustain itself through the third act’s close. Three hours into Hellman’s oppressive oeuvre, the theater exits start to look inviting."
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Chicago Reader - Not Recommended
"...Hellman aimed to write a kind of postwar, Louisiana Uncle Vanya, about a group of relations and hangers-on who assemble in seclusion to suffer through various unrequited loves. But with disparate acting styles and a variety of geographically indeterminate accents, this bunch seem like relative strangers, and their stories never cohere."
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Windy City Times - Recommended
"...Under Nathaniel Swift's direction, the cast for this Eclipse Theatre Company production approach their roles with reverence and compassion. Granted, the stamina of the actors with extensive experience at old-fashioned three-act plays—Chuck Spencer, Millicent Hurley and Judith Hoppe among them—enable them to inhabit their characters, rather than merely impersonate them. But even if three hours ( with two intermissions ) seem, likewise, a long haul for modern audiences, the empathy generated by relationships still evident in our society today evokes suspense sufficient to make waiting for the succession of irony-steeped resolutions worthwhile."
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Centerstage - Recommended
"...Nuanced, richly textured performances by the cast (particularly Nora Fiffer and Judith Hoppe, who play Sophie and Mrs. Ellis) offset Hellman’s often acerbic and relentless prose, but even with the superb cast, the play would have been more rewarding had it been about an hour shorter. Instead, it hobbled along for about three-and-a-half hours (with two intermissions), like the stubborn N’awlins drawl elicited by its twilight narcissists."
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Chicago Stage Review - Highly Recommended
"...Eclipse Theatre Company delivers a simply beautiful treat with their ambitious rendition of Lillian Hellman’s rarely produced The Autumn Garden. The details of Hellman’s eccentrically flawed and complicated characters are rendered with exceptional strength by a captivating cast."
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ChicagoCritic - Highly Recommended
"...The Autumn Garden is a polished nicely flowing production that quickly grabs you and holds you throughout the nearly three hour show. This is a terrific play worthy of an audience. Lillian Hellman’s masterpiece lives through the efforts of a fabulous cast from Eclipse Theatre. They are to be congratulated for this gem."
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