Chicago Tribune - Highly Recommended
"...For Next Theatre, which has had a very up-and-down season, this is, finally, a moving and thoroughly engrossing show that is certain to land with its core audience."
Chicago Sun Times - Recommended
"...Herzog, still young, is full of wisdom and ideas, and she has written a play that suggests a rare maturity, a genuine ruefulness, and a willingness to question sacred cows. That, alone, is enough to recommend “After the Revolution.”"
Chicago Reader - Somewhat Recommended
"...Herzog understands the intense dynamics of Party families, director Kimberly Senior draws sharp performances from a crack ensemble (especially Dana Black and Mike Nussbaum), and set designer Keith Pitts gets a certain Old Left-meets-Dania design aesthetic exactly right. But Christine Stulik's Emma makes no sense. Since Joe's crimes would be unsurprising and even justifiable to any red-diaper baby, something more profound must be eating her. Stulik never really gets at what that something is."
Time Out Chicago - Recommended
"...Herzog handsomely raises the stakes on the family-grievances drama, cannily commenting on the way politics shift between generations and the impossibility of perceiving the past as our forebears did their present. Warm and funny throughout, Kimberly Senior’s production features a terrific cast, including splendid turns by Mary Ann Thebus as Joe’s fiery, hard-of-hearing widow and Mike Nussbaum as a kindly donor to Emma’s fund. Stulik is a sympathetic protagonist, though she’s saddled with a too-long sequence where Emma’s pouting slows the play nearly to a stop."
Stage and Cinema - Highly Recommended
"... It’s fashionable to sneer at political and social conservatives as intolerant ideologues, but After the Revolution paints left wingers with the same brush. It’s a novel position in contemporary American theater and one to give the thoughtful viewer pause. Can liberals like the Joseph family claim ownership to the moral high ground? Maybe, maybe not."
ChicagoCritic - Recommended
"...The acting was superb especially from Christine Stulik as Emma with terrific supporting work by the ageless Mike Nussbaum and MaryAnn Thebus. See this well written work and decide for yourself if Emma’s reaction to the family secret is valid or is she over reacting to old news? Generation values that differ is worthy of exploration by playwrights and Amy Herzog deftly outlines the role of old-time lefts in today’s world."
Chicago Stage and Screen - Recommended
"...The personal smashes into the public in Amy Herzog’s deeply felt, charmingly written and semi-autobiographical family drama. Based on a public humiliation that convulsed her own East Coast, leftist, Jewish-American clan, “After the Revolution” delivers a depiction of the Joseph dynasty that rings true. All the more since Kimberly Senior’s authentic Next Theatre Company staging finds the right actor for every relation."
Around The Town Chicago - Highly Recommended
"...This production is well orchestrated and almost choreographed by Director Senior, as the one set becomes many locations and the stage crew moves in and out with furniture changes as the actors move about the stage to keep our focus away from the changes being made. There are many scenes and lots of changes and yet, they are hardly noticeable and never detract from the telling of this heartfelt, yet comical story of a family facing some major challenges, forced to review the legacy they have believed for many years. Family is of great importance and so is honesty. Can we as individuals forgive and forget new facts as they affect our memories of those we love and adore? This is part of what “After The Revolution” gets to and while the story ends abruptly, it is the right way to do it!"
