Chicago Tribune - Recommended
"...The play is no screed, but West doesn't hide her disdain for Nora, either, played by Jenifer Henry Starewich, whose vacant expression suggests little more than a cypher at first. But gradually you realize that blank look might just be an exercise in massive self-control, of a woman repressing everything. Because to unleash it all would ruin a perfectly superficial existence."
Chicago Reader - Somewhat Recommended
"...But this time the Berlin wall crumbles while ugly secrets squirm into the open. True to form, West winds the action so tightly it seems there's hardly enough oxygen for the characters to survive more than a few minutes. Yet director James Yost's world premiere for Interrobang Theatre Project is fatally lax-the life-destroying stakes just behind the pleasant smiles never feel palpable. West still has some work to do too: the play stops building just past the halfway point, and the climactic revelations are more puzzling than powerful."
Windy City Times - Highly Recommended
"...What everybody recalls about A Doll's House is that Nora Helmer walks out on her husband and the restrictive society he represents. A few might also recall the domestic events precipitating this crisis. Hardly anyone recalls the outraged criticism that greeted its premiere in 1879. Although the controversy failed to prevent Ibsen's runaway housewife inspiring over a century of discontented matrons to follow her example, a playwright nowadays who proposes to question the resolute Mrs. Helmer's options risks a similar fate."
Centerstage - Recommended
"...Written by up-and coming-playwright Calamity West (“The Peacock,” “Common Hatred”), “Ibsen is Dead” is not so much a remake of “The Doll’s House,” but a further examination of the same themes, this time seen through modern eyes. Nora (Jenifer Henry Starewich, “The Dead Prince”) is still a pivotal character, but our real protagonist this time around is Christine (the outstanding Stella Martin, “The North China Lover”). Christine is the audience’s needed surrogate for the story of “Doll’s House.” When Nora acts helpless and opportunistic, it’s the biting sarcasm of Christine that cuts through to reality."
Time Out Chicago - Somewhat Recommended
"...What he sees in her is as questionable as what she sees in her husband. Unlike in Ibsen's version, there's not even a pretense that anyone has gotten into the predicaments they're in by acting out of kindness for someone else; all four characters are operating purely out of self-interest (and, in Torvald's case, apparently inherent dickishness) from the outset-perhaps meant as a commentary on the conspicuous capitalism of the '80s, as played out against the dulcet tones of Peter Jennings narrating the supposed end of Communism. And yet as the as the enigmatic revelations play out in James Yost's production, the stakes never feel rich enough, and West's goals for this project remain elusive."
Chicago Stage and Screen - Recommended
"...James Yost’s production crackles with tension, starting with a slow boil in the first scene, accelerating as the players inevitably collide, and finally exploding before Torvald regains control of his world. Yost effectively uses the silences between the rapid-fire exchanges and small gestures to tell the story behind the words. Mike Mroch’s set sacrifices the sense of claustrophobia to allow glimpses at the world outside the apartment, though his sleek black and white décor provides an ironic contrast to the shifting perceptions of the truth in the play. Claire Chrzan’s lighting design reinforces the sterility of the pristine world Torvald tries to maintain, and Christopher Kriz’s sound effectively permits the world to encroach. Angela Campos provides faux riche clutter, though some of the props lack ostentation."
The Fourth Walsh - Recommended
"...I very much enjoyed the World Premiere of THE DOLL’S HOUSE PROJECT: IBSEN IS DEAD. The only speed bumps I had were the opening and closing scenes. They seemed stilted bookends to in otherwise volatile reality. Still, West writes it, Yost directs it and the ensemble acts it out like a not-so-friendly poker game. Everybody wants to win but what or who is the prize? The game playing is transfixing."