Chicago Tribune - Recommended
"...Wright doesn't simplify the language or make any attempt to condescend to these performers, even though this busy and accomplished stage and TV writer penned this piece especially for this particular group of girls. He writes in simple but dramatic fashion, allowing his actors both to master adult language and reach for complex emotions. It is a girl-friendly piece, for sure, but not a compromised piece in any way. And this not only empowers the performers, but, should you have a daughter or granddaughter between the ages of 10 and 17, I suspect it would do much the same for them, if you were to take to this show and show them what their peers can do. Especially when there are no boys around."
Chicago Sun Times - Highly Recommended
"...The girls, members of A Red Orchid’s Youth Ensemble, easily hold their own as soldiers wielding swords and shields and varying degrees of power. And in director Steve Wilson’s spare but evocative production, they impress with the ferocity of their emotions, the sureness of their intellectual attack and the force and clarity of their diction. The fact that you wouldn’t expect the Greek and Trojan warriors of ancient myth to take this form is enough to make you listen to this very adult story in a whole new way. Wilson and fight choreographer Sarah Fornace, were able to elicit surprisingly things from their young actresses."
Chicago Reader - Somewhat Recommended
"...The conceit makes for lots of intentionally silly moments, as when tiny Nicole Rudakova's Paris opens his mouth for the first time and, well, talks like a girl--but it also provides a simple, often powerful metaphor for both the barbarity of war and the savagery of gender roles. By the time Hector critiques Patroclus's attempt to impersonate him, saying, "You're just a girl playing dress-up," the line doesn't seem so funny. Steve Wilson's staging of Craig Wright's script is low on production values, and the performers are mostly pretty green, but the 70-minute piece is never anything less than a fascinating experiment."
Windy City Times - Somewhat Recommended
"...The bottom line is that this production is a novelty, an upgraded version of the school play. It's exciting to see what they've accomplished, but it stretches the kids' borders far more than yours. Of course, that's true of much fully adult theater as well."
Copley News Service - Recommended
"...Playwright Craig Wright has adapted the story from a highly regarded translation from the classical Greek by Robert Fagles. Wright carved out his hour-long version specifically to be presented an all-female cast of youngsters, with a top age of about 14."
Centerstage - Recommended
"...Though the ensemble as a whole is very strong, its weakness lies in the area of vocal variation. The actors are loud, clear, and competent, but limited in range of pitch, decibel and color. One exception to this is actor Melanie Neilan, whose physical as well as vocal flexibility makes her King Priam the most prismatic presence on the stage. Simple but effective costuming, props and set maximize the efficiency of the ensemble without distracting from it."
Time Out Chicago - Highly Recommended
"...The ensemble tackles Wright’s adaptation with remarkable skill and discipline, staging battle scenes (choreographed by Sarah Fornace) that any professional company could take pride in and reeling off passages of epic poetry with sensitive command. Jaiden Fallo-Sauter makes a proud and unwavering Achilles, while as Patroclus, Elenna Sindler captures the hapless plight of a warrior abandoned by his gods. Running just over an hour, the production offers a fairly breathless run through the poem’s monumental geography, but it packs in more wit, thrills and passion than many shows twice its length."
ChicagoCritic - Recommended
"...Theatrically, the girls nicely landed the fast-paced and complex script in a easy to follow and emotionally honest manner. The fight scenes were ambitious as were the cute scenes utilizing dolls as female figures of adoration. A nice touch."
Chicago Stage and Screen - Recommended
"...Homer’s bloody epic reduced to one hour? “The Iliad,” that saga of masculine mayhem unleashed by greed and jealousy, performed by teenage girls chanting “Rage!” like a pep squad from hell? Craig Wright’s version of the classic war story won’t be confused with any other adaptation. Nor will Steve Wilson’s wickedly subversive staging. You realize well before the 60 minutes are over that who tells a story shapes it almost as much as what happens in it."
Around The Town Chicago - Recommended
"...Director Steve Wilson, uses the very small stage at A Red Orchid, as best he can with 13 performers in a small space and with fighting sequences to boot. Sarah Fornace’s fight movements work, although, there were a few close calls for those in the first row. The cast made up of girls aged 8-15 were all sizes and I would imagine backgrounds. It was obvious that some of them had done more stage work than others, but they all kept their characters and held the storyline together. Jaiden Fallo-Sauter was a powerhouse as Achilles, Elenna Sindler ( Petroclus), Aria Szalai-Raymond ( a powerful Hector), The petite Nicole Rudakova ( as the powerful Paris), Najwa Brown ( Agammemnon), Katie Jordan, Paola Lehman, Marissa Meo, Isabella Mugliari,Melanie Neilan,Madison Pullman, Nicole Rudakova, Kara Ryan and the adorable Eden Strong ( an 8 year old charmer). These kids are from Cal City,Northbrook,Nortfiled, Des Plaines and many of Chicago’s diversified neighborhoods. That’s what makes this presentation so special."
Reviews You Can Iews - Highly Recommended
"...It is 70 minutes long, which is exactly the length it should be.
The story gets told, we learn about the horrors of war, the kids are awesome, and we all go our separate ways."
Chicago Theater Beat - Highly Recommended
"...It is not as if Neilan couldn’t handle that kind of poetry. She, not to mention most of the cast, seems up to it and should be given the chance. If exposure to the classics is part of the actor’s journey in this production then not just gender roles, but also an exploration of the Ancient Greek concept of Ananke, or Harsh Necessity, is just as much part of the process of discovering this culture and these characters. A Red Orchid’s production succeeds with a certain cuteness factor—little girls playing big men’s roles. That works to great effect, especially when 5th grader Eden Strong delivers the lines of the mighty Ajax. But behind the play lies war’s devastation. I say, let the girls bring it."
