People We Know at The Side Project

Chicago Reader - Highly Recommended

"...The question of Paul's innocence or guilt is only tangential, though: the play's real target is the notion that marriage completes people. Tenges excels at truthy dialogue dipped in acid, and Adam Webster's cast of six could hardly be better at landing his lines with razor precision. Andy Hager is particularly good as a besotted semi-slacker, anguished at his wife's infidelities."

Chicago Stage Review - Recommended

"...Tenges creates conflict that leans towards academic melodrama and some of the emotional transitions seem to be more plotted than organic but in the hands of such a gifted director, with such a talented ensemble, the end result is a compelling view of the moments in relationships that are often overlooked. People We Know is a fascinating slideshow of relationships that are trying to hold out past the expiration date and a wonderful example of theater’s ability to shed light on our darker internal struggles."

Time Out Chicago - Highly Recommended

"... Webster’s characteristically snappy production features a seasoned and sensitive cast. Andy Hager, who’s developing into one of the city’s premier comic actors, lends sad-sack Joshua—a modern-day record-store manager—a moving, steely dignity. He’s ably matched with Elizabeth Bagby, whose Hannah gleams with a wry intelligence on the edge of snapping. As Paul’s other friends, Kirsten D’Aurelio and Robert Koon switch deftly from a savagely funny sex scene, featuring college conductor Eric’s telling fantasies, to an argument that lays bare what the poet Denise Levertov called “the ache of marriage.”"

Chicago Stage and Screen - Highly Recommended

"...Director Adam Webster utilizes the small space in this Rogers Park storefront to its best advantage on a marvelous and incredible set by Michelle Lilly O'Brien.  We start off in a living room, then in a flashback are taken to a bar and then the living room converts to a bedroom with another bedroom above allowing us into the lives of the other couples involved.  We move through time with ease as we become the "fly on the wall" allowing us to see that often the people we think we know are not at all what we thought."