Chicago Tribune - Somewhat Recommended
"...The main structural issue that really needs fixing in the play is what needs and desires are supposedly driving the action: there's the overall motivation for profit, of course, but Erlbach truly has yet to convert that into moment-by-moment tension. Especially in the middle sections of the show, the big picture pixelates, leaving the gags to live and die on their own. Landau and her cast - all operating on a tricked-out setting by Todd Rosenthal - are up to the challenge in most cases. But the show needs a macro acceleration. The best farces are like runaway cars heading down mountains. Fueled by human anxiety, they go faster and faster, arriving at their destinations only seconds before they crash and fall apart."
Chicago Sun Times - Recommended
"...The performances are broad and superb. Deserving particular mention, in addition to the tireless Wilson: Rodriguez’s over-the-top sexual tackiness (after this and the play “Breach,” she is rapidly becoming an essential comic Chicago actress); Francis’ physical bathroom humor, and Cooper, whose earnest orchestrations as the maid Rosie give us a sense (for a time at least) that there just may be a moral center lurking underneath all the malevolence."
Daily Herald - Recommended
"...But it's Wilson -- a charismatic actor with impeccable timing -- who dominates "The Doppelgänger." He delivers a terrific performance in a promising play whose central question -- whether people can put the public good above their private interests -- remains relevant."
Chicago Reader - Somewhat Recommended
"...Parts of the play are very funny. Erlbach delights in packing in references to other, earlier comic writers and actors-Danny Kaye, Abbott and Costello, Peter Sellers, even Dr. Seuss. (James Vincent Meredith's killingly funny send-up of a wheelchair-bound African dictator, owes much to Sellers's Strangelove.) But whenever things get too funny, Erlbach, Landau, and company slam on the brakes."
Stage and Cinema - Not Recommended
"...No doubt, Rainn Wilson displays deft comic chops and "fish out of water" humor as he depicts both a reluctant hero and a total twit. Backed up by a perfectly cast rogues gallery of grifters and greedsters, he can only wink, leer, mug and clown so much before this mess becomes a theatrical train wreck."
Let's Play at ChicagoNow - Recommended
"...Talk about Carol Burnett antics; this play has it all! "The Doppelgänger" is a crazy comedy with some one-line zingers that will keep you entertained and wiping away a few tears of laughter. Rainn Wilson stands out because of his witty character, and he doesn't disappoint."
Around The Town Chicago - Somewhat Recommended
"...Tonight was one of very mixed emotions as I watched the World Premiere of “The Doppelganger (an international farce)” at Steppenwolf Theatre. While the show was filled with great performances and hilarity, it’s almost like playwright Matthew-Lee Erlbach, could not figure out exactly how to end the story, so we had two-hours-thirty minutes ( 2 acts with an intermission), but with the final scenes becoming a bit tedious."
WTTW - Somewhat Recommended
"...In addition to orchestrating all the essential pandemonium of a farce, the play’s first act, rife with equal opportunity satire, makes the essential points about rampant global, as well as home-grown opportunism in Third World countries. And its climactic knockout apocalyptic tirade calling for full-out destruction would be a perfect place to end the play. (Along the way, Erlbach does go a step too far with a much-close-to-home comment about gun violence in schools that had some in the audience loudly hissing.) The show’s second act is just tedious overkill, with an unnecessarily extended bit of male nudity. And even the immense power of the show’s final image (not to be divulged here) isn’t enough to redeem the preceding excess."
Chicago Theatre Review - Highly Recommended
"...This original adult farce by Matthew-Lee Erlbach, which has already been extended into early June, is well worth seeing. Theatergoers should take a deep breath before the play begins because they'll find themselves gasping for air between the laughter. Once the lights come up on the chaos and comedy oxygen may be in short supply in The Doppelganger."
Chicagoland Theater Reviews - Somewhat Recommended
"...I don’t understand what Erlbach was trying to accomplish with “The Doppelganger.” Being unsure of his intent, we have to fall back on conjecture. The play ends in a sudden and stark moment of menace, totally unsupported by the comic fripperies that preceded it. So perhaps a valid cautionary statement was trying to be made."
The Fourth Walsh - Somewhat Recommended
"...I enjoy both clever wit and silly spoofs. This show tries to be both. The Doppelganger is an international presence dressed in goofy attire trying to be a political satirist. The humor can't sustain the personality conflict. Ultimately, fans of Wilson will appreciate his presence on a Chicago stage. At my performance, they even rewarded it with a standing ovation."
Third Coast Review - Highly Recommended
"...The show not only keeps up a frenetic pace throughout (without ever feeling rushed), but it builds momentum such that as the second act reaches its peak, you can actually see the sweat on the actors’ faces as they give it their all. And none give more than Wilson, who—with the help of some fun theater tricks I won’t spoil here—switches between Jimmy and Thomas more than a few times before the lights come down on the final scene, effortlessly bouncing between accents and demeanor at a moment’s notice, depending on who he is at any given time."
Chicago Theater and Arts - Recommended
"...The plot moves delightfully through the first act as the doppelganger sarcastically encourages the potential deal makers to destroy Africa in their quest for power and wealth. Act II nicely unveils some of the characters’ real motivations with unanticipated consequences."
Picture This Post - Highly Recommended
"...As hectic and hilarious as the play gets, The Doppelganger still has substance at its core. Deftly handled by Landau in a quick and unexpected reversal too potent to want to spoil, audiences may shift uncomfortably in their seats as they recognize the gravity behind what they have spent the evening laughing at. While some may feel that such a twist betrays the play’s genre, to this reviewer, it served as a testament to the mutability of genre in the theatre and the visceral potential all art possesses."
Splash Magazine - Highly Recommended
"...Written by and starring Chicago-land natives, with slapstick married to irony, and a big wind taken out of the sails of many modern “types” from moneyed travelers to brand-New Age brand lovers, this is an intelligent and politically astute sendup of the too comfortable, morally bankrupt, greedy government-spawned sociopaths who ignore the plight of The Other. A tad too long at 2 and ½ hours, it nonetheless delivers consistent laughs before bringing the audience up short in a stunning sucker-punch ending, taking down any smug and self-satisfied viewers who thought they were going to ride a tidal wave of sophisticated jibes right out of the theatre. It’s a very entertaining show with a lot to say."
NewCity Chicago - Highly Recommended
"...I left the theater that evening—after the full force of the play’s terrific comedy was concentrated into a devastating emotional gut punch in the play’s final moment, a horrifying variation on the joke about plans and God’s laughter—wondering what it takes to hold onto such an experience. I thought about the play’s central character offering a defeatist summary of the events at hand, “It was fun while it lasted, like pogs, blue ketchup and the electoral college.”"
