Orpheus Descending presented by Shattered Globe Theatre at Stage 773

Chicago Tribune - Recommended

"...Eileen Niccolai's Lady cuts through Williams' hothouse vapors with a perfect combination of withering wit and sorrowful revelation. And when she folds her tiny physique into the towering beauty of Joseph Wiens' Val, we feel a combination of joy for these two lost souls — and a sense of impending doom."

Chicago Sun Times - Recommended

"...In this well-designed production, a large supporting cast of busybodies, rednecks and a particularly harrowing Conjure Man (Arch Harmon), capture the Southern-fried nature of the place. No need for Orpheus to descend here; this town is its own little hell."

ChicagoCritic - Highly Recommended

"... The actingis superb;the Southern accents are real; and the directing(by Julieanne Ehre skillfully avoids the trappingof melodrama). The drama is rich in subtly and hidden angstthatleads torage. Williams’ poetic language playsnicely with his rich symbolism. The result of all these elements is a powerful, searing drama. A Tennessee Williams play is not to be missed."

Chicago Stage and Screen - Recommended

"...As always, it’s Tennessee Williams’ sprawling sympathy for life’s underdogs that keeps this freak show from turning on itself, however weighted down it is by such late-Williams expressionistic trappings as a sinister Conjure Man (Arch Harmon) who brings doom wherever he stalks. The biggest drawback is Courtney O’Neill’s too-stark set, which much more closely resembles tiers in a prison or an air raid shelter. But it sure conveys Lady’s desire to make this ugly world pretend to be pretty."