Chicago Tribune - Somewhat Recommended
"...There are some top-tier performers in this show (Paige Collins, Brenda Barrie, Blake Montgomery and several others), and they do their considerable best. But watching on Sunday night this second part (which I did not enjoy quite as much as "Stag King"), I came to think that Mathews and Allen have not yet cracked one of the great assignments faced by long-form writers, the best of whom can create a relatively simple outer frame that allows them to play around at whim in the middle, with their audience secure of the topography. That's what this trilogy needs — an ability to set aside the constant crises and show us more of life as it is lived in this strange and wonderful place. At this juncture, the outer edges are in such constant chaos, it's tough to relax or find time for those famous Shakespearean scenes in which generals reflect before battle or have a few jars with their men. Here, a few too many scenes involve someone rushing into stage center with a piece of life-changing news."
Chicago Sun Times - Recommended
"...Yet just as with Richard Wagner's grand-scale musical dramas, there can be something strangulating about the plot-heavy shows woven by this company. Its new show, "The Crownless King," penned by Nathan Allen and Chris Mathews, is a case in point. A cheatsheet is needed to follow the plot in any cohesive way. And despite all the eye-and-ear candy and derring-do, the whole exercise begins to grow tedious early in the first act as far too many back stories, spells, rivalries and twists and turns are revealed. The whole thing begins to feel like the live version of a very complicated video game for teenage boys."
Windy City Times - Highly Recommended
"...this House production summons up all of its muscular magic to keep us entertained, even if we are yet unsure how the many scenes of operatic oratory, stifled passion and/or thrilling combat connect up. Kay Kron's charismatic fox-girl and John Henry Roberts' brooding outlaw continue to draw our attention, while the introduction of Blake Montgomery's masked pirate captain and Brenda Barrie's wily monarch lend further intrigue to the travails of star-crossed young lovers and squabbling patriarchs. If the conclusion of this epic yarn next year doesn't include a few marathon three-part all-day performances, we can still hold out for an old-school ink-on-paper published edition."
Time Out Chicago - Recommended
"...Allen’s staging retains the inventiveness of volume one, as does the actors’ guileless commitment to the world of the play. Yet after all the required world-building of The Iron Stag King, one wishes for a few more character revelations about our core crew. We don’t learn much new about Casper, Hap, Rianne or July in The Crownless King that we didn’t know at the end of the prior piece. For a world in which story is power, story has to be more than plot."
ChicagoCritic - Highly Recommended
"...The blend of Celtic myth, American folklore with hints of medieval myth together with the terrific use of sound, lighting with richly unique costumes on the boxed intimate staging all contribute to a fun theatrical event. The black dragon. the hammer and the attention to details here make for a enjoyable adventure that only can happen at a House Theatre of Chicago show. The action is well-paced and thrilling, the characters empathetic and the show delivers a live fantasy. that is quite difficult to accomplish on stage. Join the fun – see this show."
Let's Play at ChicagoNow - Recommended
"...Playwrights Chris Matthews and Nathan Allen, also serving as director, continue to build their own adventure. In Part II, Matthews and Allen more prominently feature storytellers. Casper's story is being told or untold by three different forces. On the surface, King Casper and his comrades are confronting pirates and evil forces to bring about peace. Below that primary plot, the storytellers, Hap, Irek and July, are spinning tales of Casper's fate. Matthews and Allen cleverly make their epic more robust with these underlying forces at war. The story is thrilling. The characters are intriguing. The adventure is fun. The subtext is complicated."
