Chicago Tribune - Highly Recommended
"...The online discounter — known for its hiring of disaffected actors, writers and poets and for its depressed stock price — comes in for some amusing abuse in "Sender," Ike Holter's very funny and charming new comedy at A Red Orchid Theatre, a highly entertaining dissection of Midwestern millennials. This world premiere piece plows the very familiar territory of the 30ish person's agonized transition into arrested adulthood (or some semblance of it) but is notable nonetheless for its wry humor, rich language, authentic compassion and distinct whiff of direct authorial experience."
Chicago Sun Times - Highly Recommended
"...Holter, whose previous plays include “Hit the Wall” (a chronicle of the 1969 Stonewall Riots, which was produced at the Steppenwolf Garage and subsequently Off-Broadway), and “Exit Strategy’ (about the shutdown of a Chicago public school), writes punchy, musical dialogue. And the four terrific performers here act the stuffing out of his play as they engage in heavy-duty drinking, sex (with Haggard, whose lean, muscled body is easy to look at, in a scene of full-frontal male nudity), and much inventive obscenity."
Chicago Reader - Recommended
"...And the cast is pretty much perfect for its demands. Steve Haggard's Lynx exudes the slimy, smooth, uncertain confidence of a man who used to be celebrated for his cool recklessness but aged out of his golden god phase and is now just plain lost. It's fascinating to watch him wield the one power he's got left: his ability to play on the nostalgia and affection of the people he used to exploit. Mary Williamson and Steven Wilson are depressingly believable as the exploitees, Tess and Jordan."
Windy City Times - Recommended
"...Sender unquestionably is an audience-pleasing show—especially if you know what a "Disney horse" is, which I don't—and should be another widely produced feather in Holter's rapidly expanding cap. He could improve it by providing some exposition for Lynx and some evidence that Cass can smile. Mike Durst's graffiti-trimmed Chicago rooftop set is a joy, and Alexia Rutherford's costumes suit the characters' personalities."
Time Out Chicago - Highly Recommended
"...Meanwhile, Holter's way with words only gets stronger-his dialogue is as dense and snappy here as any of the fiery speechifying in his Hit the Wall or Exit Strategy, but with a more grounded, natural feel. Your initial viewing might just leave you wanting to return to Sender."
Chicago Stage and Screen - Highly Recommended
"...Sender is a sort of off-kelter slice-of-life story about a few late-20-somethings living in Chicago. It's a coming-of-age story for adults who still read coming-of-age stories. Feeling the weight of life, burgeoning into adulthood, the characters all are challenged to find their way in life, balancing between the need for community in the digital age with the need for authenticity. There's a real timeliness to this piece; so much of it feels so present, so as-of-this-moment, that you find it easy to relate to, despite the rather odd premise."
Around The Town Chicago - Somewhat Recommended
"...It is not often that I will attend a production at A Red Orchid Theatre and not walk out feeling good about the experience. Tonight, as I watched the World Premiere of Ike Holter’s “Sender”, I wondered what I had just witnessed. I will tell you that there were some moments filled with laughter from the audience, but to be honest, the moments were not that funny. There are times when family and friends, on an opening, laugh because they are watching family and friends say and do things that are not in any way close to their normal lives. I believe much of tonight’s laughter was more this."
Chicago Theatre Review - Highly Recommended
"...And through it all, director Shade Murray, who has helmed one terrific Red Orchid production after another (he directed another excellent world premiere, the Michael Shannon-starring “Pilgrim’s Progress”), develops one of the more effective critiques I’ve yet seen of Chicago’s hipster community. Living off the beaten path is one thing, but pretension and ignorance are an entirely different matter, and then Cassandra pointedly says to her friends “Grow the fuck up, y’all,” we know exactly the sentiment she is attacking."
The Fourth Walsh - Recommended
"...I really enjoyed SENDER. The dialogue, the direction, the acting is immensely entertaining. I also like the story but found it a little light in substance. I wanted characters to sober up and grapple with their issues. Still, SENDER is a good time. It’s a summer rooftop party hanging with the hipsters! It’s a lot fun yet it will become a fading memory."
Chicago Theater Beat - Somewhat Recommended
"...In the end, a competent cast and Holter’s demonstrably superior writing skills can’t save a play that never explores the issues it presents. There’s a fascinating play to be made from the premise of a supposedly dead man coming back to life. This isn’t it."
BroadwayWorld - Recommended
"...While Holter's play on the whole moves rapidly with a 95-minute run-time, some scenes last a few beats too long, particularly a drunken scene between Jordan, Lynx, and Tess that becomes very messy. There's also an early scene involving nudity that hovers on the line between gratuitous and indicative of Lynx's free spirit. And while the characters are finely drawn and interesting to watch, they're not necessarily likable. It can be frustrating to watch these characters who seem to have so many options in life--and who are clearly well-educated-- and yet seem so uninterested in pursuing any of them."
NewCity Chicago - Somewhat Recommended
"...As a mostly even-handed insight into a permanently maligned subculture, “Sender” nevertheless seems conflicted about how to portray its subjects. If this play is meant to be a form of redemption for the Wicker Park crowd, it needs to do more than simply present the grime as it is. It needs to scrape it away and show what’s growing—or decaying—underneath."
