Chicago Tribune - Highly Recommended
"...A number of clever visual and stylistic choices add texture to the text, including Stephanie Diaz's puppet show, in which an outsize Galileo clobbers his small-minded Vatican opponents, and a so-cheesy-it-works interlude in which Boesche's projections (which also include sharp illustrations by Yeaji Kim) pay homage to the old spinning-newspapers montages in classic films - here with headlines about Galileo's upcoming trial."
Chicago Sun Times - Recommended
"...Remy Bumppo - the company that tags itself as "think theatre" - has spent the past season exploring "the consequences of choosing knowledge, and that moment when deliberately shedding ignorance means exposing yourself to a new reality." So the choice of Bertolt Brecht's play, "The Life of Galileo" (in a snappy, modern translation by British playwright David Hare), could not be more appropriate as a concluding production."
Chicago Reader - Somewhat Recommended
"...Nick Sandys's production for Remy Bumppo Theatre Company also calls to mind the 20th century, particularly in Rachel Lambert's postwar-era costumes. Playing Galileo and his fellow scientists as well as their religious adversaries, an enthusiastic cast capture the intelligence and righteous outrage in Brecht's script, though we don't see much of the anguish and fear they claim to be feeling."
Theatre By Numbers - Recommended
"...I would encourage you to take in this show. I would also encourage you to ignore the costuming choices and forced conceptual construct applied to the piece. Let the piece itself speak to you, and enjoy a well-acted evening of theatre. A brief word of forewarning, so you know what you're getting into, though. This is a long play. Intermission occurs just about the point at which many newer works would be wrapping up. So, be prepared for bit of sitting time and perhaps a limb falling asleep."
Stage and Cinema - Recommended
"...Inevitably, The Life of Galileo is an extremely contemporary cautionary tale, both against a credo yielding to coercion and for the imperative of speaking truth to power. We couldn’t need it more."
ChicagoCritic - Highly Recommended
"...Finding the real conflict in the story is director Nick Sandys’s accomplishment as well. For most of the play, we are presented with a person who is objectively right battling with people who are willfully ignorant and wicked or think themselves to be engaged in a noble lie. Rachel Lambert’s early twentieth century costume design and John Boesche’s projections of dates and places referencing Brecht’s life are obscure to people who don’t already know their significance, but don’t detract from the presentation, and look quite lovely with Joe Klug’s set."
Around The Town Chicago - Recommended
"...This is a very historical play filled with many historical facts that have had a strong effect on our world today: The rise of Hitler! The invention of the nuclear bomb! Brecht’s fight with the politicals of his day! The layering of time periods can be somewhat confusing, so it truly pays to keep your focus on what the actors are saying and as each scene begins to note the dates and locations that appear on the projections. I promise that if you follow this, you will not find yourself getting lost in the history that we are viewing."
Chicago Theatre Review - Highly Recommended
"...All in all, ‘Life of Galileo’ is an essential play for the America of today, and one that audiences should eagerly see – scientific literacy notwithstanding!"
Third Coast Review - Recommended
"...The Life of Galileo is a powerful, thought-provoking story and this production is enhanced by Joe Kiug’s creative scene design. The set is a simple workroom surrounded by blackboards, on which are projected the time and place of each scene—Padua 1609, Florence 1610, Rome 1616—as well as images and diagrams."