Chicago Tribune - Somewhat Recommended
"..."The Mousetrap" is not easy to do outside of a traditional proscenium theater, and, ideally, it needs a more detailed and tricked-out set than the one created at Northlight by Jack Magaw. The physical production looks cheap in places — the sound effect of a crackling fire doesn't fully do it for me, and the atmosphere feels flat. Most importantly, Berry, who is new to this genre, still has to figure out how to make the surprise ending feel like the natural culmination of all that has gone before. Logic is everything in Christie, and this sometimes-mannered production lacks confidence and certitude when all we want is to sit back and enjoy this work's meticulous construction."
Chicago Sun Times - Highly Recommended
"...Happily, Berry caught me in my own trap. His Northlight Theatre production is exceptionally smart, subtly dark and hilariously funny — and so supremely well cast and absolutely airtight in its unspooling — that I not only chased the cheese all the way to the end, but heard the perfect little snap that proclaimed “case solved.”"
Chicago Reader - Highly Recommended
"...Berry and an exquisitely cast bunch of actors walk a line between the script's vast kitsch potential and Christie's very real wit to create a lovingly subversive entertainment. Joe Dempsey, Laura T. Fisher, and Lindsey Pearlman, in particular, need to win something for their sly performances as a mysterious Italian, a dour retiree ("A lot of people don't know they have dry rot"), and a red-lipped Vita Sackville-West type."
ShowBizChicago - Recommended
"...Even though Noerthlight’s Mousetrap has some flaws it is still a seldom-done, very well-realized and mostly executed Chicago production of the only play written by the greatest mystery writer of all times, Agatha Christie, and, after 62 years, still captures the audience in its tight spring."
ChicagoCritic - Highly Recommended
"...Enriched with witty humor and provocative personalities, this finely woven mystery is a edge-of-your-seat fast paced play that both entertains and engrosses us as the ultimate final twist unfolds. We smile as the mystery is unveiled even if we have seen the play before. I believe one of the reasons that The Mousetrap has endured for 62 years lies in the clever details and rich foreshadow that, over time, gets us to forget the details so that each time we see the play, it never fails to get us to question our previous knowledge of who-done-it. So, this production, while true to Christie’s plot, has enough well developed characters to get is to once again, wonder."
Around The Town Chicago - Highly Recommended
"...This production is entertaining and well structured. Director Jonathan Berry shows skill in managing the movement and dialogue of the actors to ensure that the show is interesting, comedic, and dynamic. The set, by Jack Magaw, is beautiful and puts the audience right in the middle of an old English Manor. The lighting, Lee Keenan, the costumes, Izumi Inaba, and the sound, Rick Sims, all add to the ambience and suspense of the production."
Chicago Theatre Review - Highly Recommended
"...This production is as cheeky and contemporary-feeling as when it first hit the boards in London. A welcome change from the typical holiday fare, Agatha Christie’s murder mystery, set in a rural wintry retreat, offers a perfect evening entertainment, filled with humor, startling plot twists, charismatic characters and just the right amount of chill to catch a killer."
Chicagoland Theater Reviews - Highly Recommended
"...”The Mousetrap” may not break any new artistic or philosophical ground, but as a work of sheer craftsmanship it must admired. The Northlight has to be congratulated for first having chosen the play that is so much against the grain of the theater’s normal offerings and then staging it so effectively. I suspect that Northlight subscribers would happily sit through a similar suspense drama from days of yore. Anyone for “Night Must Fall,” “Seven Keys to Baldpate,” or Christie’s “Ten Little Indians” or “Witness for the Prosecution?”"
