Chicago Sun Times - Recommended
"...Watching the Raven production, incisively directed by JoAnn Montemurro, also is a reminder that Guare had his finger on the pulse of many phenomena that would only become magnified in ensuing decades: the obsession with celebrity (from Hollywood types to the pope); the tension between those deemed "successful" and those seen as "failures"; the causes and manifestations of mental illness, and, yes, even terrorism. As for his attitude towards women, let's just say it is more than problematic. It's all enough to make your head spin, and indeed, heads do continually spin in this play."
Chicago Reader - Somewhat Recommended
"...The only bright spot in Artie's life is his chaste affair with Bunny-a great cook who nevertheless refuses to feed him unless he runs away with her. The most significant of several problems with JoAnn Montemurro's staging is that it pushes the comedy at the expense of the despair and therefore culminates in a surprise ending rather than a powerful one. For all that, Kelli Strickland supplies an interesting Bananas. But Sarah Hayes tries way too hard as Bunny."
Time Out Chicago - Recommended
"...Guare’s play throws a lot of curveballs that Montemurro tackles fantastically: a would-be terrorist, a flock of nuns, a Hollywood mogul and his fiancé, a mental hospital doctor and the military police all parade through Artie and Bananas’ rundown apartment. It’s a circus, and Montemurro smartly juggles each successive player. But as things calm down, leaving Artie and Bananas alone with themselves, the horrifying final moments of the play fall flat. It’s a cold, frustrating finish to an otherwise smart and capable production."
ChicagoCritic - Highly Recommended
"...In 1971, John Guare's dark farce The House of Blue Leaves launched his career by establishing him as a writer who defies genres and has a wicked sense of humor. Now, in 2016, when the farce has receded from its once-prominent position in the theatrical landscape, Guare's story of a husband undergoing a mid-life crises while in thrall to his mentally ill wife and a group of invasive nuns awaiting the arrival of the pope looks even stranger. But in Raven's production, under the direction of co-artistic director JoAnn Montemurro, every cackle rings true, and the horror exposed at the heart of the genre is all the more disturbing for being buried under such a goofy exterior."
Around The Town Chicago - Highly Recommended
"...If you are seeking an escape from your everyday life, in hopes of putting it aside, and just having a great time, the place you want to be is The Raven Theatre and its East stage production of John Guare's side-splitting "The House of Blue Leaves". This is 2 hours and 15 minutes of pure fun, with a capital "F"!"
Chicago Theatre Review - Highly Recommended
"...In this welcome return to John Guare’s world, which lies just this side of absurd, JoAnn Montemurro has staged an intimate, funny and delightfully entertaining production of one of the master’s finest plays. This strange, wacky comedy says so much about each of us and our continual quest for a better way of life. It’s a riff about dreams that seem just out of reach and the unexpected trajectory that our world often takes. The quirky characters may seem over-the-top but they’re all grounded in reality. Perhaps that’s what makes this play so funny; we’re actually looking at our own reflections in a mirror."
Chicago Theater Beat - Highly Recommended
"...Add to that the claustrophobic set work by Ray Toler with Merje Veski, and The House of Blue Leaves becomes an anarchic journey to a heightened otherworld where desperate fans take photos with famous people on TV and a pathetic man tries with the farcical ardor of Tantalus to eat from the same plate as a powerful man. In the decades following Leaves debut, Guare’s grotesques still haunt and critique from that chilly blue spotlight."
Third Coast Review - Recommended
"...The House of Blue Leaves has sweet, poignant and tragic moments, but It's mostly two-and-a-quarter hours of retro nonsense, reminding us or showing us what the world was like 50 years ago. Montemurro's cast is generally excellent. Steinhagen, Hayes and Strickland are standouts."
BroadwayWorld - Somewhat Recommended
"...The general feeling of desperation comes through in this production, and there are moments of real poignancy, but the "comedy" gets in the way. From time to time, the characters directly address the audience, presumably to let us in on their motivations. Perhaps it was also Guare's way of making sense of the chaos onstage -- a smart move, but one wonders if he had employed less madcap farce and more drama if that would have been necessary. Certainly the the closing scene -- a head-scratcher of the highest order -- would have made more sense."
NewCity Chicago - Recommended
"...Raven Theatre's production of "The House of Blue Leaves," written by John Guare and directed by JoAnn Montemurro, begins almost unnoticed. The live audience chatters over the recorded audience chatter that plays while Artie (Jon Steinhagen) poses himself on a piano far stage left, singing lovely but forgettable tunes. Artie is nervous and unsure; not only is he performing in front of a disinterested fictional crowd, but the live audience itself seems to be unaware that the show has started."
