Chicago Tribune - Recommended
"..."Pornography" is, for sure, an episodic play that some will feel lacks dramatic tension (Stephens wrote the text to be unusually malleable and playable by different-size casts; that extracts a price). That lack of tension is the chief flaw of Robin Witt's otherwise very impressive production. This is a superbly detailed piece of direction that, alas, doesn't pay quite enough attention to how the overall stakes of the night are building. Each of the scenes is superbly realized, but the scenes don't work quite as well together. The internal energy tends to dissipate as we move from one portrait to another. Part of the issue here is that Mike Tutaj's typically creative video montages — it's rather like watching the opening sequence to HBO's "True Blood," with a gothic Britain replacing Louisiana — count down the number of monologues and scenes in the script. That works against the provision of surprise. And unlike Stephens' "Harper Regan," this piece lacks an empathetic central character whom one can track throughout."
Chicago Sun Times - Highly Recommended
"...In a way, “Pornography” is a sort of prequel to all terrorist attacks — from our own 9/11 nightmare on. It rewinds the lives of a cross-section of people who might (or might not) subsequently be caught up in the horrors, either directly or indirectly. And it suggests the profound psychological terror of a very personal sort that has been building up in their lives."
Chicago Reader - Highly Recommended
"...Creepier still is the implication that the crimes committed by the other characters somehow led to Khan’s atrocity. Well, then, if I have all these reservations about the show, why am I recommending it? Partly because Robin Witt’s production for Steep Theatre is so incredibly sharp, with nothing but smart, clear-eyed performances. And partly because it’s worth something to be so unsettled."
Windy City Times - Somewhat Recommended
"...despite all the best efforts of the cast and crew, they're still saddled with Simon's frequently ponderous script. Just why Stephens named his play Pornography and why he chose to link these characters in association with the 7/7/2005 bombings is certainly more muddling than anything truly illuminating."
Centerstage - Not Recommended
"...Actual pornography would probably be more enlightening than the tedium and irrelevance this series of vignettes has to offer. Each short piece focuses on an individual or pair of individuals living in London at the time of the attacks."
Time Out Chicago - Highly Recommended
"...In a clean, unadorned staging—designer Chelsea M. Warren confines each scene’s action to one of six white platforms—director Robin Witt and a marvelous ensemble capture the joys, terrors and banalities of this modern moment. Five flat-screens above display Mike Tutaj’s exceptionally haunting video design; the actors stare up at the screens in moments of transition in the way we stay glued to the TV in times of shared tragedy, as if looking for guidance. It’s hard to define Stephens’s brand of compelling compassion, but it’s like Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart famously said of pornography: You know it when you see it."
Chicago Theatre Addict - Recommended
"...stick through to the end. In the play’s moving final moments, an elderly spinster (Maggie Cain) quite literally steps out of her comfort zone to ask a simple favor of a stranger. And the surprised stranger hesitantly obliges."
ChicagoCritic - Recommended
"...Pornography is a tad tedious as several of the monologues were too long and too detailed but once you stay tuned in, the play works. The video screens were at first helpful but later became a useless distraction. Some may feel that Pornography is “too British” for American audiences. Perhaps, yet the performers – all sporting richly authentic English accents (credit dialogue coach Anita Deely) exemplified enough humanity to empathetic. Each dramatized their empty lives and their detachment from society. No wonder they can be so cold to alien cultures. I particularly was impressed with Rudy Galvan, Maggie Cain and John Taflan. Simon Stephens is a British playwright worth our attention."
Chicago Stage and Screen - Somewhat Recommended
"...Director Robin Witt has done precise work with each monologue and scene. Set designer Chelsea Warren's choice for six tiny white platforms traps the actors playing scenes in spaces too small to work in and acerbates the sight lines of Steep's pillars. Jeremy Floyd's costumes are spot on, and Mike Tutaj's videos are effective. But Brandon Wardell's busy light design seems to needlessly highlight - and thereby undercut - some of the great work of the cast."
Let's Play at ChicagoNow - Somewhat Recommended
"...Steep has certainly recruited the talent! Veteran steep folk and rookies provide poignant oration. Three of the six character studies are straight monologues. The other three are dialogues with another person. Playwright Simon Stephens has created intriguing characters. They start out pretty normal and get twisted really, really - slow! Especially in the monologues, the pace is leisurely getting to the point. By the time the juicy stuff is revealed, the first part is forgotten. Despite best efforts by a splendidly ordinary Kendra Thulin, a deliciously double-talking Rudy Galvan, and uber-creepy John Taflan, the monologues are long-winded. (There is a reason why audio porn hasn’t caught on!) The other half of the cast has it easier interacting with a designated partner. (Best porn moments often involve more than one person!) The dialoguing ensemble members are riveting with uncomfortable sexual tension. A standout, Maggie Cain closes the show with a hysterical portrayal of a lonely old lady."
Around The Town Chicago - Somewhat Recommended
"...Directed by Robin Witt with some brilliant acting, I found this story to be incomplete in the telling of the story. While Stephens has written some very detailed monologues and two very powerful “love stories” and we learn a great deal about the temperament of the people over what is taking place, I didn’t feel that he truly got to the Islamic influence; the UK getting involved in the Iraqi war, which was the real reason for the four men to plan their protest, which left me a bit uneasy. It appears from the script that the Olympics is the key to their plot and in reality it was only a piece."
