Chicago Sun Times
- Somewhat Recommended
"...The two actor-writers are likable, and just vulnerable enough to keep you interested. A segment of travel photos becomes an intriging little statement about how travelers do (and do not) fit into "exotic landscapes." And there are a few simple but playful projection tricks to enjoy as well. But there's also quite a bit of dead space in the show, and nothing particularly revelatory about the nature of photography."
Chicago Reader
- Somewhat Recommended
"...Underdeveloped but dotted with winsome flashes of insight, Greg Allen's meditation on photography and identity is warmhearted in a minor-key way. Jeremy Sher and Caitlin Stainken reveal personal information and share anecdotes about work, romance, and family life, using a variety of photographic images to illustrate."
Centerstage
- Somewhat Recommended
"...the play is full of lovely moments. Sher and Stainken give honest and involving performances, and technical designers Peter Sebastian and Evelyn DeHais create some real magic onstage. There's plenty worth seeing, it just doesn't cohere into a complete picture."
Chicago Stage Review
- Recommended
"...Mercifully running at about an hour, it sustains the exercises in evocative imagery well. Any longer and this visual trip to nowhere could become tedious. As a play, I Am A Camera lacks the build and conclusion that a cohesive story or message creates. As performance art, I Am A Camera is a beautifully created and fascinatingly executed journey through the notion of how images reflect and convey experiences, emotions and moments. Ultimately, I Am A Camera is a conceptually extraordinary and presentationally charming homage to and reminiscent illustration of nostalgia that is well worth a look."
Time Out Chicago
- Recommended
"...
Stainken and Sher are casually engaging, and much of what draws us in is their chemistry and a question that goes unanswered, about the nature of their real-life relationship. But while Allen and the performers find plenty of nifty uses of photography, we can’t say they achieve much insight into the nature of our relationship with the medium. Much of the show, set to a soundtrack of camera-themed tunes by the likes of Sufjan Stevens and Death Cab for Cutie, feels like vamping to fill out the hour: A sequence in which the actors use sheets of paper to catch small pieces of projected photos is a lovely image, but it goes on for three songs."
Chicago Theater Beat
- Recommended
"...As the play unfolds, I AM A CAMERA comes to life on a screen, on a stage, in front of a screen, behind a screen, in silhouette, in darkness, in a momentary flash, beyond a screen, back in the audience, in and out of the audience, with the audience on a screen, in photographs scattered across a table, in motion, in stillness, in any combination of these and, of course, here and there it bubbles out of the image world into words."
