Chicago Tribune
- Recommended
"...When their kvetching got a bit repetitive (and, two droll performances notwithstanding, it does), I started staring at Jack Magaw’s arresting set—a collection of portraits of every U.S. president, with a space left at the bottom of the wall for the next occupant of the office. You see a progression of neckties but not of color or gender."
Chicago Sun Times
- Highly Recommended
"...This exceedingly clever, wholly mesmerizing historical psychodrama -- which these actors first performed to rousing applause in 2000 -- is a dazzler, with Michael Halberstam once again supplying laser-sharp direction."
Daily Herald
- Highly Recommended
"...Writers' Theatre may well have ruined "Nixon's Nixon" for any other Chicago area company, in the sense that another ensemble might have a tough time rising to the standards set by the Glencoe theater."
Chicago Reader
- Somewhat Recommended
"...Lees fails to maintain the tension of the high-stakes poker game he’s set up. The uninterrupted single act often meanders and repeats itself. And too often, Lees has Nixon and Kissinger play out their triumphs, impersonating Mao or Brezhnev or Meir for each other. The device is alternately entertaining and cheap: each time the men reenact past moments, Lees seems to be admitting he can’t find enough dramatic urgency in the present."
Windy City Times
- Highly Recommended
"...Writers' strong production of Nixon's Nixon underlines the importance of participating in the upcoming election. From the wall of presidential portraits in the background to the actors' responses when they consider the body count of dead under Nixon's administration, Nixon's Nixon reminds us that we all have our own parts to play in determining America's destiny."
Chicago Free Press
- Recommended
"...This odd-duck drama imagines a lengthy conversation between Richard Nixon, hell-bent on maintaining his grasp on the Oval Office, and Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, whose concerns about his own power and legacy are less immediately obvious but no less pronounced. Director Michael Halberstam certainly has top-notch talent here in Larry Yando and William Brown, and he guides the pair through a tightly wound pas de deux as Kissinger (Brown) tries different tactics to convince Nixon (Yando) that resignation is preferable to the inevitable impeachment conviction by the Senate."
Copley News Service
- Highly Recommended
"...The popularity of “Nixon’s Nixon” isn’t restricted to the successful Writers’ Theatre productions. The show has captivated audiences wherever it’s been staged since its off off Broadway premiere in 1995. Part of the attraction is the play itself, a wonderfully funny and entertaining recreation by dramatist Russell Lees of Richard Nixon’s final night in office before resigning the presidency."
Edge
- Highly Recommended
"...My hat is off Larry Yandow for creating a Nixon who is both despicable yet someone we can understand and pity. His performance is so intense I’m not sure how he manages to dial it up four nights a week and twice a day on the weekends."
Chicago Stage Review
- Somewhat Recommended
"...Director Michael Halberstam manages some humorous and perceptive moments despite the prearranged spontaneity. Ultimately though, the interpretation of the script lacks a cohesive build and is too bombastic to yield much insight or entertainment."
Time Out Chicago
- Recommended
"...Even though it’s staged in an intimate venue in the back of a Glencoe bookstore, the actor steps fearlessly over the traditional Chicago style of small-space naturalism and goes, quite frankly, bananas. Equal parts vaudeville comic, grown-up altar boy and power-mad despot, his Sir Richard is a wholly original, borderline Shakespearean creation."
ChicagoCritic
- Highly Recommended
"...There is both humor and pathos in this character study. “Nixon’s Nixon” is a wonderful showcase for Larry Yando and William Brown. You’ll not see finer acting than these two provide in this in depth drama."
Chicago Stage and Screen
- Recommended
"...Nixon's Nixon is a rightfully earned tour de force for the actors playing Nixon and Kissinger, and one could hardly find a finer or more accomplished pair than Larry Yando and William Brown. Brown in particular bears a striking resemblance to the German-born American bureaucrat, diplomat, and 1973 Nobel Peace Prize laureate Kissinger. And the duo has great fun taking on the roles of USSR Premier Leonid Brezhnev, China Chairman Mao Zedong, and even Israel's Prime Minister Golda Meir. Playwright Russell Lees gives a frequently unflattering portrait of the late, disgraced President, hurling profanities, sexual vulgarity and revealing homophobic and anti-Semitic rage."
