Chicago Tribune
- Highly Recommended
"...Aided by Rachel Anne Healy's endlessly intriguing and slightly elusive costumes, the look is somewhat European and quite contemporary. But somehow, concept never overwhelms context here. The director has a delicate hand, leaving room for you to hear your own echoes."
Chicago Sun Times
- Highly Recommended
"...Brown's production (with added enchantment courtesy of set designer Keith Pitts, costumer Rachel Anne Healy and sound magician Andrew Hansen) is far more than an exercise in vivid dualities. Smart, precise, literate, elegant and ruefully funny, it is contemporary in the most winning way, full of gentle anachronisms and a touch of mystery."
Daily Herald
- Highly Recommended
"...Brown's direction is lucid and his stage pictures lovely. The emotional embrace between Duke Senior and Jacques after the "Seven Ages" speech and the communion of the outcasts inspired by the wistful song "Heigh-ho the Holly" evolve seamlessly. Nothing about this celebration of the transformative power of love and the restorative power of nature is forced or mannered. Yes, it's fluff, but it is beautifully done and I like it well."
Chicago Reader
- Highly Recommended
"...Somehow director William Brown has brought out an intimacy in his cast that's at once wildly playful, beautifully disiplined, and absolutely appropriate to the piece."
Windy City Times
- Somewhat Recommended
"...Sometimes a critic doesn't like a production that's executed with intelligence, skill and attention to detail. The critic may take exception to the script itself or disagree with the director's interpretation. So it is with As You Like It. Will Shakespeare's script is dandy, so my quibble is with director William Brown, a very fine actor who's become a very fine director."
EpochTimes
- Highly Recommended
"...For those of you who don't stray up near the Cook County/Lake County border and have never had the experience of seeing a Writers Theatre production, I am about to urge you to
take the trip. This is a small, very intimate theater, that does marvelous productions on a regular basis. Their current production is William Shakespeare's "As You Like It", a raucous comedy directed by William Brown and featuring some of Chicago's top actors. This comedy features some marvelous music by Andrew Hansen and a simple (but elegant) set by Keith Pitts."
Copley News Service
- Highly Recommended
"...Director William Brown places the action in modern times, giving the story an easy accessibility for the audience. The stark difference between the intrigues and cruelties of the court and the camaraderie of the forest is a pronounced subtext. Shakespeare obviously prefers the generosity of spirit of life in natural surroundings to the darkness and betrayal of the court (read civilization)."
Time Out Chicago
- Highly Recommended
"...Brown’s production does a number of smart things. By excising a large number of ancillary characters (including a literal deus ex machina, the goddess of marriage), Brown tightens the play’s focus; more to the point is his central conceit of presenting the cast in modern dress (clever work by costume designer Rachel Anne Healy) and the characters as contemporary refugees, their new society in Arden always on the lookout for the nefarious Duke Frederick’s search copters."
ChicagoCritic
- Highly Recommended
"...Conventions of love, the pain-pleasure struggle and the challenge of the untouched countryside verses the sophistication of the city are vividly spoofed in this most enjoyable romantic comedy. If you’ve not seen As You Like It, get to Glencoe to Writers’ Theatre to discover a show that you’ll like."
Chicago Stage and Screen
- Highly Recommended
"...Think William Shakespeare is dry and boring? Boy, do I have the production to prove you wrong! Writers Theatre is offering a production of the Bard's romantic comedy "As You Like It" that I could list as one of the top ten most delightful Shakespearean stagings I have ever seen. A better compliment I can't think of to honor Director William Brown's completely refreshing and thoroughly entertaining endeavor."
