The Dueling Gentlemen presented by Silent Theatre Company at Athenaeum Theatre

Chicago Tribune - Recommended

"...It's pretty much delightful start to finish, and Quijada and Fittanto have such strong control of their instruments and their faces that we can "hear" what they're saying even before the supertitles pop up on Simon Lashford's little jewel box of a set. (Rodolfo Polanco-Casasola designed the graphics on the titles.) At one point, Quijada's trembling hands as he figures out what Fittanto's character has been plotting - and how he himself might respond - take on poetic lives of their own. I haven't seen Silent Theatre Company's work in a while - and if you've never seen them at all, "The Dueling Gentlemen" is a fine introduction to what they do best."

Windy City Times - Highly Recommended

"...We begin with a vaudeville ( 19th- and early 20th-century variety-show entertainment ) sketch entitled The Ugly Blonde—a farce recounting the tale of a fickle woman who spurns one suitor to marry another, only to have the wedding interrupted by a violent confrontation between the two, leading the presiding clergyman to declare in disgust, "This is why priests don't get married!" What distinguishes this rendition of the familiar yarn is that all the roles are played by a single pair of actors employing quick changes of clothes, wigs etc. ( a stunt-oriented gimmick still popular today ). The narrative doesn't stop there, however, but moves backstage to reveal interpersonal tensions between the players—hostilities affecting their comedic duties to increasingly fatal extremes."