Chicago Tribune
- Recommended
"...Baal is still a rather confounding piece that certainly resists any linear trajectory, and it will wear out its welcome for some. An intermission would have been a good idea. But with the helps of designer Brandon Wardell's hemmed-in, daylight-free world and Peter Tegel's clear translation, this feels to me like a strikingly powerful vista of so much that was to come and wreak such havoc on our bodies and souls."
Chicago Reader
- Highly Recommended
"...Written in 1918, when Brecht was a 20-year-old university student, Baal explores the primal link between creation and destruction embodied in the title character, named for a pagan god. With the help of a first-rate cast, Keith Parham's expressionistic lighting, and Josh Schmidt's fine folk-rock settings of Brecht poems, TUTA Theatre artistic director Zeljko Djukic creates a vivid, dreamlike work of stage poetry."
Windy City Times
- Highly Recommended
"...So how does TUTA director Zeljko Djukic propose to make this charmless brat into a Byronesque hero? American rock-and-roll being an indispensable component of the modern Eastern European aesthetic, Djukic's first step was to hire Josh Schmidt, composer of the breakout musical version of The Adding Machine, to supply a score of aggressively up-tempo songs, performed onstage by actors on instruments ranging from guitar to bass viol, and sounding nothing like the atonal Kurt Weill ditties traditionally employed by academic productions."
Centerstage
- Highly Recommended
"...Director Zeljko Djukic moves the story through careful attention to mood and dialogue heightened by Josh Schmidt's original music score. The play follows Baal's plummeting fortune in a two-hour, non-stop performance that offers no plot resolution but remains a captivating descent into the underworld."
Time Out Chicago
- Highly Recommended
"...
From its use of Peter Tegel’s poetic translation, to Brandon Wardell’s gorgeously dilapidated set and Keith Parham’s precise lighting, to the interpolation of new Weill-worthy cabaret settings by composer Josh Schmidt (Adding Machine, A Minister’s Wife) accompanied by a multitalented cast, Djukic’s choices unify and elevate the material. Perhaps most vital is Ian Westerfer’s presence in the title role. Westerfer conveys the electromagnetic charisma that has men and women drawn to him to their peril."
ChicagoCritic
- Highly Recommended
"...Baal is a eclectic, densely wordy work filled with Brecht’s richly metaphoric language. It is ambiguous, sexy, even sadistic, but it also is an idea play that begs more questions than it answers. TuTa’s production is a marvelous work of art filled with caring, honest creativity from all involved. Baal is refreshingly inventive as it swiftly blends drama with raw sensuality. Baal is a masterpiece of theatre as it demonstrates what the power of dedicated artists can produce once they are in creative sync. Kudos to director Zeljko Djukic for having the courage and foresight foster a rich collaborative environment."
Chicago Stage and Screen
- Somewhat Recommended
"...Dana Black, Ted Evans, Lindsey Gavel, Steve Hadnagy, Stacie Beth Green, Rachel Rizzuto, Jacqueline Stone and Dana Wall are all fine actors with some nice voices in handling the music as well. In order to truly tell a story that can be interpreted in many different ways, the director and his actors must understand just what the playwright was suggesting. If they do, the story unfolds with ease. If not, there will be lots of confusion on the part of those audience members. This production tells the story perfectly and if one thinks about it, there are some parallels with our times as far as the economy, the arts and relationships."
Chicago Theater Beat
- Highly Recommended
"...The wonderful paradox about a figure like Baal is that he can rebel on one level, yet conform to age-old gender constructions that allow for the abuse of women. Baal spurns the middle class sycophants who offer his art patronage. His open insult to their offer is fabulously defiant, a theatrical delight. His rejection of middle class mores regarding sex and gentility toward women gives him access of women’s bodies without all that ridiculous, sentimental love stuff. Whether the middle class males Baal mocks have more respect for women as persons than he remains an open question. But Baal’s extreme adherence to working-class masculinity allows him to abuse women as he feels they deserve."
