Chicago Tribune - Somewhat Recommended
"...All four of those performers are very good in Witt's production (Strus is terrific). But this is a piece of direction that, while solid, pulls a few too many punches, and it's by a director whose past work has been much more intense. The issue, in essence, is that Kimbrough, whose comic chops are formidable, goes for a few too many of the laughs and that such a mood over-inflicts the whole show."
Chicago Sun Times - Highly Recommended
"...As mother and daughter, Kimbrough and Strus, veteran Chicago actresses who can flip from tragedy to comedy in a single breath, are a match made in heaven as two women imprisoned in a web of love, loss, fear and need. Their blistering mother-daughter firefight is a stunner, and would have been the ideal place to end the play. Peet should have resisted the urge to put a slightly upbeat ending on a story that cannot possibly have one - and the door to the little balcony of Judith's condo should have remained stuck. But this is a small quibble about an otherwise taut and telling play, and a production that kicks off Northlight's 40th anniversary season in superb style."
Chicago Reader - Somewhat Recommended
"...Inspired by the real-life tribulations of Ruth Madoff, wife of Bernie Madoff, actor-turned-playwright Amanda Peet has written a rather flat play about the fictional wife of a high-flying fraud. The situation is packed with dramatic possibilities-long-simmering regrets, intergenerational misunderstandings, sexual betrayal, even a hurricane, for God's sake-but again and again Peet transforms this potential gold into lead, burying us in mundane character quirks such as flatulence and sagging boobs."
Time Out Chicago - Somewhat Recommended
"...Director Robin Witt and a cast of actors who deserve to be doing something more interesting do their best to give us a return on our investment, but Peet's script is something of a Ponzi scheme itself: a precariously fabricated stack of contrivances that also involves Becca's teenage niece (Leah Karpel), a hurricane, an emergency-room visit and a freezer full of cash. We're meant, I think, to wonder whether Judith knew about her husband's dealings and, if not, how she blinded herself to them. Instead, you find yourself pondering other questions, such as: Why do people keep going outside in a hurricane, other than the playwright needed to get rid of them for a while? Why didn't Becca see her boyfriend's clearly impending betrayal coming when we all spotted it miles away? Are we supposed to care about any of this? Like the patriarch's victims, we're left wanting."
Stage and Cinema - Recommended
"...A Midwest premiere by Northlight Theatre, Amanda Peet’s topical domestic drama The Commons of Pensacola isn’t exactly about Bernie Madoff’s unimprisoned wife nor how her family deals with disgrace. But as inspired speculation, it will do—at least until a tell-all Ruth Madoff exposé comes along. Apart from dramatizing the collateral damage wreaked by a Ponzi scheme gone toxic, it works as a depiction of denial and a show of survivor guilt. (The situation here would equally fit children of Nazi collaborators and relatives of war criminals.) In 90 minutes, Peet airs a lot of dirty laundry—perhaps too much: She includes a gratuitous scene of sexual infidelity to balance the father’s financial betrayal."
ChicagoCritic - Recommended
"...All in all, The Commons of Pensacola was alright. I feel that I, a 24 year old male, was probably not the target audience. I didn’t leave the theater thinking how much I wanted to bring other people to see the show, but I could think of a few relatives who would thoroughly enjoy it. It’s a story of a family struggling to love each other. A tale of suspicion and trust. Just all around a decent story. Worth the 80 minutes. Great characters come together to bring you an enjoyable evening."
Chicago Theatre Review - Recommended
"...Amanda Peet’s short drama is both riveting and humorous. As a play, motivated by one of the most devastating financial tragedies in recent history, it fictionalizes the event and dares to ask, “What happened next?” The play’s immediacy can’t be denied and is attributed both to Ms. Peet’s script, as well as Robin Witt’s excellent, straight-forward direction and her cast of talented actors. This play may be complete and just long enough for some playgoers, but a more involved, fully-developed drama, which would satisfy other audiences, seems to lie a few scenes away."
Chicagoland Theater Reviews - Recommended
"...In its brevity, “The Commons of Pensacola” is more a shard of a play, an extended situation, rather than a full-fledged drama. But the playwright has written some astringent dialogue, some of funny. The female characters all have their scintillating moments (Gabe comes across as an opportunist and a bit of a swine in his sexual bit with Lizzie). One would wish for a deeper rendition of Judith to match Becca’s engrossing mix of anger, desperation, and pluck, but the play remains an interesting, sometimes absorbing, foray into collateral damage inflicted by one of the most publicized scandals of our time."