The (edward) Hopper Project at Storefront Theater

Chicago Reader - Somewhat Recommended

"...Perfectly complemented by the ineffably cool music of the Dave Brubeck Quartet, some scenes are inventively whimsical, including a charming series of silent bits chronicling the efforts of a man and a woman to connect after glimpsing each other through a restaurant window. But many are maudlin and contrived, at odds with the sense of understated ambiguity that makes Hopper's work unique."

Windy City Times - Somewhat Recommended

"...the main problem with The (edward) Hopper project is that there are too many playwriting cooks. Along with Ellison, WNEP got Mary Jo Bolduc, Bob Fisher, Tom Flanigan, Merrie Greenfield, Don Hall, Joe Janes, Cholley Kuhaneck and Rebecca Langguth to all contribute to the play's vignettes (some also do double duty as actors)."

Centerstage - Somewhat Recommended

"...There's one important thing that "The (edward) Hopper Project" gets right: it's full of moments that feel like looking at one of his paintings. There's something incredibly moving about Hopper's lonely urbanites and the way he paints them with light, and parts of the show have the same effect. Unfortunately, the pitfalls of creating theater based on visual art - along with some of the production's choices - make for an inconsistent evening, more akin to an art installation than a conventional play."

Time Out Chicago - Somewhat Recommended

"...Hall’s assembled a splendid team for the task. The strong 18-member ensemble ranges from stoic types to comedy aficionados (Merrie Greenfield and the hammier Regan Davis are particular highlights). Mike Durst’s atmospheric light design illuminates a two-story set (divided into rooms that approximate Hopper’s settings) in high-Hopperian (read: gloomy) fashion—a striking feat accomplished with limited instruments."

Chicago Stage and Screen - Somewhat Recommended

"...The staging for this WNEP Theater production runs the entire length of one side of the DCA Storefront Theater with action taking place on two levels of a large and somewhat fussy set by designer Heath Hays. While not the best use of the Storefront space I have experienced, it does make an interesting counterpoint to Hopper's own diagonal lines and curves (the diner counter for example). A huge cast of 17 is employed to populate Hopper's world as interpreted by Jen Ellison with eight other writers under the auspices of Producer and Director Don Hall. One could surmise that having so many different cooks in the kitchen could spoil the soup, and indeed it points up the performance's lack of focus."

Chicago Theater Beat - Recommended

"...You’ll get no argument here that true wonders can come of making an audience wrestle with tantalizing loose ends and challenging ambiguity. Few things annoy us more than theater of the stupid – shows that condescend to hand-feed the audience every last detail while telegraphing precisely what the one should be feeling at any given moment. But The Hopper Project goes too far in the other direction. The stories play like unfinished two-dimensional sketches rather than textured, fully realized paintings. Context – both specific and universal – is minimal, and the result is something scattered and superficial rather than a united, meaningful whole."