Chicago Tribune - Highly Recommended
"...Some of the dark places to which Zoe goes (with her students) would get her in serious trouble stateside, and for good reason. Be warned this is an edgy, raw play. Few dramas that love teachers have the guts to make teachers so flawed. Donnelly has no problem there - Zoe is, to a large extent, an inept mess. But thanks in no small measure to Neff's moving performance, Zoe remains a deeply sympathetic character in this piece, a piece that not only charts why teaching is so very, very hard in these circumstances but is honest about the malevolence of young people. It cuts through a lot of cliches about education, but "The Knowledge" (not really what this school is about at all) still is an intensely compassionate play: real, raw and true."
Chicago Sun Times - Recommended
"...John Donnelly's "The Knowledge" - in a Steep Theatre production that has been extended through June 23 - looks at British working-class kids, and the teachers and administrators of a high school in which everyone is distracted by bad behavior. Directed with ferocity by Jonathan Berry, the play is a reminder that Chicago is hardly the only place where public education is in chaos."
Chicago Reader - Highly Recommended
"...The prudish title may be the best summation of which worlds collide here: "the knowledge" alternately refers to oral sex, what a teacher imparts to students, and the hundreds of routes a London cabbie must memorize to get certified. Though Britishisms abound, the play's vulnerable characters and thought-provoking power struggles translate well on our side of the pond."
Centerstage - Highly Recommended
"...Unlike "The History Boys," this play is not a 'pleasant' thing to watch. It is not a light and frolicking evening at the theatre. It is a harrowing drive at breakneck speed along the side of a cliff in the dead of night. And that is why it must be seen."
ChicagoCritic - Somewhat Recommended
"...While Donnelly's drama tries to depict the tepid attempts by the British school system to educate even the losers, it wonders of into a sexy no-man's land with the Zoe-Maz and Zoe-Daniel encounters. It seems that the teachers and students in this school have a predilection toward acting on their sexual desires. But when the Harry tries to bribe Zoe into changing a report about Mickey's conduct, the tone of the play changes into a series of cover-your-ass exchanges and actions."
Let's Play at ChicagoNow - Highly Recommended
"...I've skirted around the story a bit, and there's an involving one about what happens when a character crosses some important boundaries that needn't be revealed here. If any tickets are still available for this production, you should buy them. For a theater company with such an esteemed history of scorching, exquisitely-acted productions and sold-out runs, this one belongs at the top of the list."
Chicago Theatre Review - Recommended
"...Steep Theatre Company's production of "The Knowledge", with Jonathan Berry at the helm, serves the play, bringing what's there in the script to life onstage and nothing else. That is something I have admired about all of Jonathan Berry's productions. He never lets his own ego get in the way of simply telling the story. The quartet of bad British kids, portrayed by Clancy McCartney, Sarai Rodriguez, Jerry Mackinnon, Carolyn Braver steal the show with their specificity, spirit of play, and chemistry. Caroline Neff is complicated and relatable as Zoe. Michael Salinas is the right mix of charming and scheezy as Maz. Jim Poole is hilarious and bleak as Harry. The staging for the transitions paired with Matthew Chapman's sound design and Pete Dully's lighting design never let us forget the genre of this piece: thriller, precisely when we need to be reminded."
