Chicago Reader - Highly Recommended
"...With director Kathy Scambiatterra avoiding the temptation to camp up the many unsubtle elements in Augustus Thomas's script, her capable actors invest unstintingly. It works. Confrontations between Shanks and his wife are searing, a proper young couple's first kiss is notably hot, and Mark Pracht's climactic monologue as Shanks is spellbinding."
Windy City Times - Highly Recommended
"... Actors confronting the early dramas of American Realism must also grapple with dialogue reflecting pacing and rhythms very different than those encountered today—a potential pitfall rendering all the more commendable the formidable resistance to mockery of their material displayed by director Kathy Scambiatterra and her valiant cast. Instead, each company member embraces his/her role in generating unhurried narrative suspense sufficient to engage our emotions, the better to heed our story's cautionary lesson. Yes, we may smile at the occasional anachronism—the factory-made field-dispatch envelopes, for example, or the gaudy colors favored by costumer Richard Lurie—but when the moment of our hero's redemption finally looms, the tension in the room is palpable."
Centerstage - Recommended
"...City Lit has unearthed a very interesting piece of work in Augustus Thomas’s “Copperhead”, a 1918 drama about an Illinois farmer who is hated by his neighbors, his former friends and his own family for his Confederate sympathies and activities."
Time Out Chicago - Somewhat Recommended
"...Scambiatterra’s staging manages to bring some life to the play’s womenfolk—especially Tummelson’s hardy Ma Shanks—but there’s only so much she can do with a play devoid of complexity, poetry or action. Rarely have war and personal anguish felt so dull."
ChicagoCritic - Highly Recommended
"...The shocking ending is most sympathetic to Milt turning him from hated turn-coat to quiet American hero. We see the price and effects of Milt’s secret after forty years. See this well acted show to enjoy a fine period drama. Mark Pracht’s excellent performance as the low-key Milt Shanks leads a terrific ensemble in a rarely produced classic American drama. The Copperhead does justice to the American Experience through a well structured play."
Chicago Stage and Screen - Highly Recommended
"...Making it all immediate and engrossing is Director Kathy Scambiattera, a wonderworker who brings out the best in the best, getting it right with casting and keeping it real until opening night. In a role first created by a young Lionel Barrymore (who also appeared in the 1920 film), Mark Pracht plays the conflicted Milt with absolute authenticity, with solid support from a terrific 15-member cast. City Lit’s “Sesquicentennial Celebration” could not have begun more auspiciously."
Chicago Theater Beat - Recommended
"...City Lit brings an honest, down-the-line approach to the script. The Copperhead can feel a bit archaic, but never wooden. It’s great to see such an old play with a local connection being done here. Thomas will never have the name recognition or acclaim of Chekhov, and he seems afraid to dive as deep into darker territory. However, his play remains relevant to any culture familiar with war. The Civil War Project is a fascinating idea, and I hope they can keep churning out work like this."