Chicago Tribune - Highly Recommended
"...This is no seasonal extravaganza. But I was genuinely surprised by how much emotion this show unleashes toward its end. A vulnerable cast is self-aware enough to show us the bittersweet complexity of doing right by a friend who has left us bereft, and also that some people are able to understand when youthful greatness is in their midst, even if it means they must step aside themselves."
Chicago Sun Times - Recommended
"...The play’s greatest virtue — and it is not inconsiderable — is that it makes you think about a seminal but often overlooked achievement. For without the First Folio, Shakespeare’s work might well be a shadow of its grandly salvaged self."
Daily Herald - Recommended
"...This unsettling thought is the thrust of Lauren Gunderson's enjoyable 2016 history play "The Book of Will," about the efforts of Shakespeare's friends to make the extremely influential First Folio a reality. Now receiving a fine Midwest premiere led by director Jessica Thebus at Northlight Theatre in Skokie, "The Book of Will" is a touching literary jaunt that should also please fans of Gunderson as well as Margot Melcon's Jeff Award-winning "Pride and Prejudice" sequel "Christmas at Pemberley" from last holiday season."
Chicago Reader - Recommended
"...But even if it spends too much time in mourning (four separate characters in two short hours!), Jessica Thebus's handsome and all-around well-acted Northlight Theatre production asks some stimulating questions about the life art has long after its maker is gone."
Around The Town Chicago - Highly Recommended
"...Smoothly directed by Jessica Thebus on a set designed by Richard and Jacqueline Penrod, this two act (two-hours-fifteen minutes with a 15 minute intermission) moves quickly. The first ten minutes, also knows as the “exposition” seems slower than the rest, but it is important to make certain that the audience truly understands the direction that these men are planning to take. That being said, Thebus gets it done and allows the audience to feel that they are on track with the production and story."
Chicago Theatre Review - Highly Recommended
"...Without the genius of playwright William Shakespeare we wouldn’t have such theatrical masterpieces as “Hamlet,” “As You Like It” or “Richard III.” But without the devoted friendship of John Heminges, Henry Condell and their families and friends, we wouldn’t have these works of art in the way they were originally written. And, without Lauren Gunderson’s funny, profoundly heartfelt and historically-based new drama, the world might’ve been ignorant of the trials and tribulations that went into the publication of The First Folio. This play is a Valentine aimed at every theatre lover and Shakespeare aficionado, and a must-see production for every Chicago audience."
Chicagoland Theater Reviews - Highly Recommended
"...But “The Book of Will” is for all seasons. This is a play with humor and feeling about men and women on a selfless mission. The audience, no matter what its knowledge of Shakespeare and his world, should revel in the journey of the central characters as they finally complete the task of rescuing their friend’s works for future generations. They had no way of knowing that they were founding a vast industry of scholarship as experts through the centuries built careers on improving and parsing the texts in that First Folio. Bottom line, Gunderson and the Northlight have made the Heminges and Condell quest come alive, giving the audiences an enjoyable and informative evening on a topic many patrons entering the theater may be feared would not be so engrossing."
Third Coast Review - Recommended
"...The talented cast playing on the period, Globe-evocative boards (set by Richard and Jaqueline Penrod) are almost enough, but not quite, “as a squash is before ’tis a peascod, or a codling when ’tis almost an apple.” My well-thumbed Folio facsimile is pleased to have a theatrical representation, but, ‘Sblood, there should be more matter with less art."
Chicago On Stage - Highly Recommended
"...The Book of Will is wonderful entertainment. It is richly funny and warm in its emotions while it tells a tale that we all knew had to have happened but had no clue about just how. “All the world’s a stage,” Shakespeare said in Alice’s favorite play As You Like It. Hasten thee to Northlight’s, else thou wilt miss something most marvelous."
NewCity Chicago - Somewhat Recommended
"...Artistic director BJ Jones' program note makes it clear that Northlight's intention is to highlight the women who contributed to Shakespeare's First Folio but all of the women-identified characters were secondary, defined by their relationships to the men in the story. The play itself only barely passed The Bechdel Test by virtue of a two-minute scene shoehorned into act one for no apparent reason other than to pass The Bechdel Test."
