Daily Herald - Highly Recommended
"...Gaines' exceptional ensemble consists of 19 actors including Chicago Shakes stalwarts Larry Yando, Kevin Gudahl, Barbara Robertson, Neil Friedman, Michael Aaron Lindner, Heidi Kettenring and others. The production struck me as something of a love letter to CST veterans, particularly Yando and Gudahl, whose mastery of their craft gets a superb showcase. The 19 actors play more than 100 roles. Clearly budget considerations account for the double, triple, quadruple casting. But the decision is also an inspired one, revealing the evolution of human nature. It's one of several canny choices in this fast-paced (even at six hours) production, which is the first to place these plays in this context."
Chicago Reader - Somewhat Recommended
"...Interestingly, Gaines is able to use these elements to good advantage now and then, turning the finales of each section, for instance, into sometimes stirring, sometimes haunting moments that make you feel like there’s still hope. But when you come back from intermission, the same reductive template kicks in again. Gaines is so intent on putting over the message of Tug of War that she makes a dull chore of sitting through it."
Stage and Cinema - Recommended
"...In any case much fine work—Barbara Robertson’s dynamic courtiers, Neil Friedman as a gruff Scottish chieftain, Michael Aaron Lindner’s fiery Welsh patriot—makes what might have been a long haul into a tight and tragic tableau worthy of Tolstoy. Though arguably less than the sum of its parts, the sheer scope of Tug of War is equaled by its dramatic depth. Gaines’s fusion of the political and the personal powers Shakespeare’s plays and reignites a crowd’s imaginations. You feel many tugs in this game of thrones."
ChicagoCritic - Highly Recommended
"...It's fair to say Tug of War: Foreign Fire is a monumental achievement. While productions of this length aren't that unusual for a huge festival, to uncover this much new meaning in a text is precisely the kind of re-imagining Shakespeare needs to remain vibrant. Kudos to Gaines and company for going beyond the most well-worn portions of the folio, and seeing the potential in Shakespeare's early writing."
Around The Town Chicago - Highly Recommended
"..."Tug of War: Foreign Fire" is such a huge production it's hard to know where to start when writing a review. Watching "Foreign Fire" was like binge watching three or four episodes of a TV drama like "Outlander" or "Game of Thrones". It was exciting, addictive, totally exhausting and I loved it! Brilliantly staged and superbly acted"
Chicago Theatre Review - Highly Recommended
"...This monumental creation by Barbara Gaines is at once an astounding artistic, literary and dramatic achievement. She has seamlessly stitched together three of Shakespeare's histories (with the second installment to come in the Fall) to create one epic story that says so much about the motivation toward and the effects of war. While Ms. Gaines focuses on the kings and queens, she devotes much of her excellent adaptation on the way the soldiers and the commoners are affected. Supported by a brilliant technical team, including Larry Yando's excellent verse coaching, Harrison McEldowney's beautiful direction in movement and Matt Hawkins' superb fight choreography, as well as a world class cast of talented actors, this is THE production to catch before it sails away from Navy Pier."
Chicagoland Theater Reviews - Highly Recommended
"...Presiding triumphantly over the entire enterprise is Barbara Gaines, artistically and logistically. The offstage feats of costume and makeup and wig changes that transform the performers in a matter of a minute or two is amazing. Her ability to make a convoluted story coherent and accessible is wondrous. Not even her skills as a director can enliven the first 45 minutes of the play. If Shakespeare contributed anything to “Edward III,” it was small beer next to all the rhetoric embedded in the erratic king. But once we near the “Henry V” portion of “Foreign Fire,” the production breaks into the clear."
Third Coast Review - Recommended
"...From the get-go in Chicago Shakespeare Theater’s limited run, six-hour marathon mash-up Tug of War: Foreign Fire, Pink Floyd’s anti-war anthem “Us and Them” was running through my head: “Forward, he cried, from the rear, and the front rank died / The generals sat, and the lines on the map, moved from side to side.” And move they do, back and forth between England (Team Red) and France (Team Blue)."
NewCity Chicago - Somewhat Recommended
"...Despite marketing materials that suggested a rock ‘n’ roll romp, the onstage band is at their most useful when providing atmosphere. The musical interludes—many of which are sung by members of the cast—are often an overtly deliberate translation of Shakespeare’s delightfully duplicitous language into something more comparatively basic. The original tunes range from ballads to Pogues-like pub rock and thrust into sharp perspective pop music’s limited means of communicating deep emotions."
