Vatzlav at Trap Door Theatre

Chicago Tribune - Recommended

"...Not all the spinning dramaturgical plates in Pilch's production find the right pitch (despite Mazzocca and Cerney's chemistry, the Quail-and-Sassafrass interludes feel a tad strained). But for those who like their absurdism light on twee whimsy and heavy on nihilist glee, "Vatzlav" makes a fine destination."

Chicago Reader - Somewhat Recommended

"...The rest of the play is similarly inverted. Hell, it's more than inverted-it's perverse, with Caliban transmuted into a boy who decides to become a bear and Prospero played as a megalomaniacal pedophile who won't tell his daughter where babies come from but coaches her on how to do a striptease. (Oedipus pops up too.) Just about the only thing that doesn't seem extreme here is the depiction of rich folks as vampires. Presented full throttle by director Beata Pilch, Mrosek's Bizarro-World inventions can become tiresome. Still, there are some delightfully over-the-top moments-particularly from Ann Sonneville as a supremely disturbed mommy-and, translated by Ralph Manheim, the script itself is a timely sort of time capsule."

Time Out Chicago - Somewhat Recommended

"...It’s a sensory overload to be sure, but an occasionally entertaining one. Mrozek has a lot to say, though some of it gets lost in translation. What, exactly, he’s getting at? That’s for you to decide—you know, if you can get past the guy in the bear mask."

Chicago Stage and Screen - Recommended

"...If you enjoy a journey more than the destination, then Trap Door's new show Vatzlav is for you! Written by the prolific Polish genius Sławomir Mrożek (and translated here by Ralph Manheim) in 1968, it is presented in a stylish production by director Beata Pilch for this most valuable Chicago troupe."