Chicago Tribune - Recommended
"... The great strength of director Nick Sandys' droll and articulate Remy Bumppo Theatre Company of Albee's eclectic drama is that it wants to take that text as gospel. Despite the full-blown scales-and-tales outfits sported by Sean Parris and Emjoy Gavino (the terrific costumes are by Rachel Laritz), playing the reptilian half of the play's quartet, both of these actors take the fears and travails of a scaly couple, encountering their human doppelgangers, at face value. You can see Parris' seemingly guileless brow scrunch up constantly beneath his lizard cap, worrying about relationships, and pondering the viability of true marital togetherness when your partner lays hundreds of eggs at a time. You have to admire how these actors move like lizards even as they worry like people; it's quite the tough assignment playing a critter in a play where the embrace of exotica only sends the play off course."
Chicago Sun Times - Recommended
"... I’ve seen a number of productions of “Seascape” over the years and all of them left me cold. Not this one. Like Albee,director Nick Sandys, Remy Bumppo’s new artistic director (and a veteran actor), has a great feel for both language (and what it can and cannot not quite say) and the emotional lives of his characters, whether human or amphibian. Armour and Clear are masters, but Parris and Gavino, whose slithering motion and expressive faces (aided and abetted by Rachel Laritz’s prize-worthy costumes) are wholly remarkable. They inhabit their species completely."
Chicago Reader - Recommended
"...Helmed by Nick Sandys, this Remy Bumppo Theatre production somewhat redeems Albee's preachy, contrived script with engaging performances by Patrick Clear and Annabel Armour as the husband and wife and Sean Parris and Emjoy Gavino as the sea creatures."
Windy City Times - Highly Recommended
"...None of this would matter without the superlative skills of Annabel Armour and Patrick Clear, whose extensive experience working together translates to a cozy-bickery marital affection we recognize instantly. They are capably supported by Sean Parris and Emjoy Gavino, playing the ancestral spouses whose loyalty to one another (after 7,000 eggs) remains undiminished by the terrors they encounter in this brave new world—among them, an awareness of mortality. When Sarah finally grasps the concept of death, Leslie's fury at Charlie for introducing this sinister topic is echoed within each of us, sparked by the emotions it took us centuries to develop."
Time Out Chicago - Recommended
"...Pulitzer notwithstanding, this is undoubtedly a minor work. None of the ideas are especially original, and they’re expressed with little wit or poetry. In Nick Sandys’s lively, literate staging for Remy Bumppo, however, you hardly notice. Most of the credit goes to Annabel Armour and Patrick Clear, who make Nancy and Charlie a lot funnier and more multidimensional than they are on the page. Both performers deftly balance the script’s comic squabbling and dry-eyed philosophizing with a deeper sense of having stared into the abyss."
Stage and Cinema - Highly Recommended
"... Nick Sandys stages this mirror-vision exercise in altruism with all the delicacy that the discoveries deserve. If the play seems, ironically, a tad drier than 37 years ago, its portrait of premature evolution and human flux still fits us like skin and scales. Annabel Armour and Patrick Clear, master thespians, capture the rueful regrets and conditional happiness of the two-footed twosome, while, slithering amid their scales, Sean Parris and Emjoy Gavino are delightfully inquisitive as two very evolving iguanas. There goes the “neighborhood”—another word for progress."
ChicagoCritic - Highly Recommended
"... This is a peculiar play that deliversa message thatneeds tobe heardin these times of conflict and misunderstandingwith those whoare different from us. Albee’s commentson retirementwill give many theatre patrons something the dwell upon. Should retirees stay passive or become adventurous; should they revert backto their childhood fun or just remember when they enjoyed such fun? But I believe thatAlbee wants us to think about how we can conquer our differencesby evoking open mindedness and embarrassing an adventurousspirit. Seethis show and then you’ll be able to answer for yourself.Annabel Armour and Patrick Clear are outstanding here."
Let's Play at ChicagoNow - Highly Recommended
"...Playwright Edward Albee matches up homo sapiens and reptiles for a clever emotional breakdown of the sexes. The lizards speak the language but don’t understand some human concepts. The witty dialogue explains love, discrimination, and boobies. Under the tight direction of Nick Sandys, this talented cast explore the great divide between man and reptile and man and woman. In the first act, Annabel Armour (Nancy) and Patrick Clear (Charlie) establish themselves as a husband and wife in conflict. Armour and Clear fight like an old married couple. Sometimes, they are petulant. Sometimes, they are loving. We see their decades of commitment and resentment start to unravel as they both stubbornly plant a flag in the sand. Cue the lizards."
Chicago Theatre Review - Highly Recommended
"...In addition to the wonderful performances, Remy Bumppo’s design team achieved a picturesque realism. Walking into the Greenhouse Theatre’s upstairs mainstage feels like stepping into a vacation postcard. Angela Weber Miller’s scenery consists of a beautiful beachscape incorporating carved rocks, tufts of grass, and a scenic ocean view. Rachel Laritz designed costumes that are both believable and whimsical, complete with spiky tails that the lizards get to toss about. Michael McNamara’s lighting subtly transitions the beach from mid afternoon into sunset and early evening, accompanied by realistic beach sounds designed by Victoria (toy) DeIorio."
