Savage In Limbo presented by The Poor Theatre at Rivendell Theatre

Chicago Reader - Somewhat Recommended

"...Director Will Crouse's production for the Poor Theatre capitalizes on his cast's willingness to go broad, particularly Trap Door Theatre company member Antonio Brunetti as a macho goof. Beyond being fodder for a studio acting exercise, though, Shanley's script doesn't hold up as well as Crouse seems to think it does; this is well-trod, booze-soaked territory."

Time Out Chicago - Not Recommended

"...Lastly, Crouse’s decision to leave the house lights on for the entire production is a poor one. There are certainly times where avant-garde type stylistic choices are called for, but a remount of a middling John Patrick Shanley comedy is not one of them. At the very least, Crouse should have taken his cue from actual bars and kept the lighting on the audience turned real low. Ask any barkeep and they’ll tell you: People just want to suffer in peace."

ChicagoCritic - Recommended

"...The Poor Theatre’s production of Savage in Limbo offers something both poetically and artistically substantial for anyone who appreciates fine acting in close quarters and an intense examination of the savage desperation lurking in unsatisfied lives."

Chicago Stage and Screen - Somewhat Recommended

"...Savage in Limbo is John Patrick Shanley's version of a particular time and place, written when his writing was more personal and less universal, but there are themes that remain familiar-the lives that seem to happen to us rather than being chosen, the homes that prove hard to leave, and the partners that we are drawn to even if they may not allow us to be our best selves (or maybe they do and we just think there is more). Despite some powerful moments, it is an odd choice for a young company--even as a reflection of its time, the play seems antiquated in its attitudes."

Chicago Theatre Review - Somewhat Recommended

"...I really enjoyed Erika Haaland as Linda Rotunda. Decked out in her 80's pencil skirt and shiny animal print blouse. She commands the bar the moment she arrives. Ms. Haaland takes a bite out of the script and spits out the wordy passages with ease. I loved her self assurances that you know are just a smokescreen for deeper wounds. She is just trying to get along and everyone is pissing her off. This includes her Monday night hit an run neighborhood stud, Tony Aronica."

NewCity Chicago - Highly Recommended

"...Edward Hopper's 1942 painting "Nighthawks" is an emblem of American alienation: three customers, not making eye contact, sit together but alone at a diner counter, behind which the server looks beyond them to a street not only devoid of other souls but simultaneously cage-like and cavernous; the windows of the shops opposite are dark and empty, like so many lost teeth. Reverse the proportions of the genders and make the diner a bar in the Bronx and you have the claustrophobic setting of John Patrick Shanley's 1984 play "Savage in Limbo," emphasized by Gregory Pinsoneault's set design, which wedges the dingy joint along the long diagonal of the stage at the Rivendell Theatre."