Chicago Tribune - Highly Recommended
"...Though it lacks the deeper meditations on mortality one finds in "Arcadia," which many of us would call the greatest of Stoppard's works, "Travesties" provides a cultural guidebook to the post-Great War zeitgeist as seen through the eyes of a playwright who, like Wilde, interweaves the classicist and the clown. Sandys' production zigs and zags between well-placed shots to the brain and the funny bone like a pinball machine teetering at the top of the Matterhorn."
Chicago Sun Times - Highly Recommended
"...For “Travesties,” Tom Stoppard’s fabulously fanciful and altogether brilliant 1974 play — now receiving a spectacular Remy Bumppo production propelled by the same giddy energy, brainy comedy and awe-inspiring virtuosity that fuels the script — the playwright seized upon this delicious fact: That James Joyce (the Irishman who altered the trajectory of the novel with his “Ulysses”), Tristan Tzara (the Romanian-bred leader of the Dada movement, who rewired our notion of art and poetry), and Vladimir Lenin (the communist revolutionary), all just happened to be living in Zurich, Switzerland in 1917, as World War I was turning the world upside down, and the Russian Revolution was being set in motion."
Chicago Reader - Highly Recommended
"...Still, bailing on the play's complexities would mean missing not only its wit but a deeply smart, wildly energetic, neatly choreographed, often hilarious new production from Remy Bumppo Theatre. The whole company is delightful under Nick Sandys's direction, but Jeffrey Cummings's Carr, James Houton's Joyce, and Greg Matthew Anderson's Tzara are each especially marvelous in their own ways. Anderson in particular gives his character the aspect of a narcissistic dervish."
Windy City Times - Highly Recommended
"...The results are appropriately dazzling, with densely layered puns, parodies and literary references ( Did I mention whole scenes composed in serial limericks or lyrics to vaudeville songs? ), creating an intellectual vertigo capable of reducing even seasoned professionals to the stumbling mumbles in a matter of minutes. Fortunately, Remy Bumppo director Nick Sandys has drilled his cast to the agility and stamina of Olympic cross-country racers, ensuring that the madcap full-cast waltz at the play's conclusion is executed as nimbly as the lengthy monologue that launched it nearly three hours earlier."
Gapers Block - Highly Recommended
"...The production is a visual treat too. It's staged at the Greenhouse Theater Center's upstairs mainstage and Joe Schermoly's design for the performance space works as both the Zurich Public Library and Carr's drawing room. Windows on either side of the stage serve as screens for projections of Dadaist art. Rachel Lambert's costume designs are perfect representations of the play's mood and the female costumes are especially fun."
Stage and Cinema - Highly Recommended
"...Potentially Travesties is a runaway train. The stopwatch show requires consummate traffic contr0l, wizard timing, and directorial discipline, as much as patient attention from an awestruck audience. Director Nick Sandys' cunningly correct Remy Bumppo revival maintains perfect pitch and tempo throughout, going over the top (a proper World War I reference) only when authorized. Fast and furious, it's also fun. But, as cited before, Travesties rewards as much as requires a thorough familiarity with every plot twist and witty turn in Wilde's wicked work. (You could call Stoppard's confection The Importance of Knowing Earnest.)"
ChicagoCritic - Highly Recommended
"...Stoppard has some fun with Lenin, but for the most part he’s a dark presence. Sandys prepared for this by having sound designer Victoria Deiorio and lighting designer Andrews Meyers insert explosions to accompany references to the war, some of which are quite jarring, and drive home that this isn’t all fun and games. But Lenin’s also used cheaply; in one scene in which Tzara points out he doesn’t have enough reason to care about Cecily’s opinion to go along with pretending to be Carr’s brother, Lenin silences him with a glare, allowing the plot to continue."
Chicago Stage and Screen - Recommended
"...Travesties is worth the lengthy concentration required for quick-witted, saucy moments and an outstanding cast of characters. Take note: the more knowledgable the viewer, the more palatable the entertainment."
Around The Town Chicago - Highly Recommended
"...Taking on a Tom Stoppard play is always a challenge to any theater company. But there is one company that not only accepts the challenge, they have excelled at presenting his “Travesties”, a romp through his love of language that allows us to watch James Joyce (James Houton is a stitch), Vladimir Lenin (Keith Neagle, who never smiles), Tristan Tzara (deftly handled by Greg Matthew Anderson) and Henry Carr (an amazing performance by Jeff Cummings) who is our story-teller, relating to us, his new friends, the epic tales of their lives and loves."
Chicago Theatre Review - Highly Recommended
"...The delicious wordplay and surreal, ever-evolving plot devices of Tom Stoppard’s theatrical puzzle provide a challenging evening of entertainment for the smart playgoer. In this rambunctious, frantically energetic production, Nick Sandys offers audiences the opportunity to leave behind trivial entertainments and to revel in a play that demands almost as much from the theatergoer as it does from its talented cast. An evening well-spent unravelling the two-faced travesties of Remy Bumppo’s production will convince audiences that their hearts truly do belong to Dada."
Chicagoland Theater Reviews - Highly Recommended
"..."Travesties" is an amazing play that only a linguistic magician like Tom Stoppard could have written.. Remy Bumppo prides itself on presenting modern plays of language and ideas and "Travesties" is a masterpiece of the style. It's a challenging play to stage and when a production this accomplished becomes available, the serious playgoer can only rejoice. "
The Fourth Walsh - Highly Recommended
"...TRAVESTIES is a brilliant, cerebral comedy. The jokes are rapid-fire throughout the show. It would be impossible to get all the humor in one sitting. It's more a hearty intellectual stew to be deliciously savored over and over. And Remy Bumppo is serving up biting potions of tastiness. The show is a palate pleaser!"
