Chicago Tribune - Somewhat Recommended
"...One of the main problems of the evening — partly an issue with director Joanie Schultz's Victory Gardens Theater production but mostly with Hunter's script — is fully believing in that set of circumstances. The play is about the relationships among the trio of residents who remain (played by Chicago acting legends Ernest Perry Jr., William J. Norris and MaryAnn Thebus) and a genuinely caring, if quirky, set of low-income staffers (played by McKenzie Chinn, Amanda Drinkall, Matt Farabee and Steve Key). For his own dramaturgical reasons, Hunter needs a closed-off world that puts these characters under stress and forces them to deal closely with one another with tense resolve."
Chicago Sun Times - Highly Recommended
"...“Rest,” the wise, poignant, at times overly contrived play by Samuel D. Hunter now at Victory Gardens Theatre, is about the basics: Life and death, love and loneliness, faith and fear. It also happens to feature three of Chicago’s most enduring performers — Mary Ann Thebus, William J. Norris and Ernest Perry, Jr. — and their work here, which is nothing less than a master class in acting, should not be missed."
Chicago Reader - Recommended
"...The premise feels a little contrived, as though the playwright couldn't think of a better way to keep his characters in the same room and worrying about the future. But the script is redeemed by Hunter's unsentimental compassion for ordinary folk and their various approaches to mortality and other scary inevitabilities. Things could have gotten goopy or gloomy, but director Joanie Schultz and her sensitive cast handle the characters with humor and restraint. The results are both tender and unsparing."
Windy City Times - Highly Recommended
"...Director Joanie Schultz directs her three-generation cast with a tight rein, ensuring that only the most tin-eared playgoer ( the same ones labeling Caitlin Parrish's Downpour a "thriller" ) could impose sitcom risibility on this intimate portrait of middle Americans in crisis, stranded with no recourse but to offer one another aid, comfort and counsel. Bereft of the reassurances of civilization—cars, telephones, electricity—even a potentially twee huddle on the sofa under a communal blanket represents an extension of human compassion capable of generating epiphany and empathy to bring a new dawn."
Theatre By Numbers - Recommended
"...All this said, it's a show worth seeing. Most of the press has centered on the Alzheimer's aspect of the play, but I contend that there's a much more nuanced exploration of transition and journeys, with the effect of Alzheimer's on the characters as one of many obstacles. If that serves as an entry-point for a potential audience-member, then I'm glad of it, but like all really good plays, this is an engaging study of human relationships under duress."
Stage and Cinema - Recommended
"...Heartfelt interaction is the name of Hunter’s game and Schultz has found the right cast to make truisms fresh and compassion contagious. Thebus, a maternal and nurturing presence even when she’s not intoning her melodious Southern accent, gives Etta a resilience even in her memory-mining that speaks volumes. Norris quickly establishes the husband’s desperation to connect, though the mind’s fog is pea soup-thick. As sardonic old Tom, Perry drily cuts through the chatter, as much to prove he’s alive as to get his way."
ChicagoCritic - Somewhat Recommended
"...The reaction and the resolution of this contrived story with the preposterous characters sure left me scratching my head. I learned what happened but since I only believed that Tom, Etta and Gerald were real, the rest of the characters here came off as playwright creatures not to be beloved. The play is shallow enough for me to conclude that it isn’t really about much. After spending two hours with Rest, I left the theatre wanting more. What salvaged the play for me was Mary Ann Thebus and Ernest Perry, Jr.’s fine performances."
Chicago Stage and Screen - Highly Recommended
"...One of the main strengths of this production is Samuel D. Hunter’s script which is able to illustrate quiet heart-to-hearts while also finding the insane, hilarity of this retirement home. Mr. Hunter’s particular strength lies in his ability to write overlapping dialogue. Some of the best scene are when the whole cast is crowded onto the set, busily chatting in every corner. Interjections from Tom and Jeremy play phenomenally well when combined with the chaotic group scenes, reminiscent of the overlapping dialogue in His Girl Friday (1939). This is also partly due to Joanie Schultz’ direction and use of space. By placing certain characters in little corners of the set, Schultz is able to provide the more populated scenes with even more hilarity."
- Bellisant Corcoran-Mathe
Around The Town Chicago - Highly Recommended
"...Joanie Schultz does a smooth job of direction and moving the story along, but the story is not solid enough to make sense to Chicago’s sophisticated theater audiences and surely not up to the standards that we have learned to love from Victory Gardens over these 40 years. There is a very touching moment in the final scene that may have been what Hunter was really writing about. This scene between Thebus and Norris illustrates how people should respect those that they care about and or love. Aging is a process that affects us all. In our parents, our grandparents and as we age, ourselves and our loved ones. As we age, our minds begin to fade and our bodily functions can be less than we want. In Hunter’s story, one of the residents is missing during the storm, and each character begins to face their own mortality. This is pretty standard in a play such as this, but as I said earlier, the final scene between Thebus and Norris is really where it is!"
Chicago Theatre Review - Recommended
"...This new drama by the author of “The Whale” is another look at a group of people whose world is ruled by doubt and fear. Hope is all but gone and their futures appear dim. They’re the forgotten individuals, the sick and elderly, as well as their caregivers, the unsung heroes of society, who try to bring some dignity to what remains of their lives. Joanie Schultz’s production is an interesting view of those few individuals refusing to go gently into this good night."
Chicagoland Theater Reviews - Highly Recommended
"...The production profits from an outstanding physical production, led by Chelsea Warren’s detailed and functional nursing home interior, with sliding electronic doors that mysteriously open and close, giving the action a slightly mystical feeling. Lee Keenan’s lighting design provides the production with its dramatic atmospheric shifts from dim light to bright daylight. Thomas Dixon’s sound keeps the storm continually in the ear of the spectator without drowning out the dialogue. Janice Pytel designed the realistic and credible costumes."
The Fourth Walsh - Recommended
"...Even though there is such a normalcy in REST, Act 2 gets a little contrived. At one point, there is a couch scene between Drinkall and McKenzie Chinn (Ginny) that tries too hard to tie up loose ends. It feels very sitcom-esque as they come to an understanding. Their secondary storyline doesn’t necessarily need resolution. Farabee and Key have a similar, out-of-place exchange about life after the blizzard. It just feels artificial. Hunter’s attempts to tidy up relationships doesn’t seem as true to life as most of his script. Despite these clunky interactions, Thebus ends the show in a riveting and beautiful scene with William J. Norris (Gerald). I found both final moments in Act 1 and 2 spine tingling for the emotional reality of each of the situations. REST is restless contemplation-inducing."
