Chicago Tribune
- Highly Recommended
"...Cromer leaves a riveting, must-see production that surely qualifies as a wholly revisionist interpretation of this oft-indulged playwright, yet also seems to understand the rhythms of its original style and era."
Chicago Sun Times
- Recommended
"...All these losses are key to the desperate behavior and cries-from-the-heart that emanate from the characters in Inge's career-making 1950 play -- a work that opened this weekend in a Shattered Globe Theatre revival meticulously directed by David Cromer and featuring powerhouse performances by Linda Reiter and John Judd."
Daily Herald
- Highly Recommended
"...There's poetry in Shattered Globe Theatre's production of "Come Back, Little Sheba" but it doesn't necessarily come from William Inge's words. It comes from David Cromer's astute direction and exceptional acting, especially from Linda Reiter, whose touching, inspired performance ranks among the best of the year."
SouthtownStar
- Recommended
"...Although this melodrama has a flimsy script, the production is saved by the exceptional skills of director David Cromer and the show's headline performers. Cromer, who gets to the heart of the emotional action in the piece, paces everything so that it creates a good deal of suspense."
Chicago Reader
- Highly Recommended
"...Though Inge's old married couple, Lola and Doc, share a melodramatic backstory full of broken dreams and bottle hitting, their crisis unfolds here with unsentimental compassion in two plain, fast, often funny acts. The result is a revelation, sharply performed. John Judd's Doc is a time bomb fabricated out of diffidence; Linda Reiter makes a vivid Lola, getting herself lost and found."
Windy City Times
- Highly Recommended
"...John Judd and Linda Reiter conjure moving portrayals of a middle-aged husband and wife chafing under disillusionment and denial, despite having played these same characters in numerous other productions. Jayce Ryan, Maggie Corbett and Ryan Martin likewise deliver irony-free portraits of wholesome American youths. And special kudos are due Karl Potthoff and Michael Falevits, whose characterizations for an Alcoholics Anonymous intervention team deftly evade spilling into melodrama."
Gay Chicago Magazine
- Highly Recommended
"...From start to finish, through David Cromer’s inspired direction, Shattered Globe has pieced together a nearly flawless production for the start of its 16th season. This show is not to be missed."
Time Out Chicago
- Recommended
"...Under Cromer’s steady, keep-’em-honest hand, the excellent cast forms a tableau of quiet, banal despair: Against the sensual foil of Marie and her jerk-jock beau Turk, the older couple rehashes their lost happiness, then clings to the vestiges of it."
ChicagoCritic
- Highly Recommended
"...William Inge dramatizes the emotional struggles of ordinary people as they suffer from loveless marriages that make life dreary trapping the victims in their past glories. This play may be a tad dated but David Cromer’s pacing builds the tension to explode garnering all the emotional pain contained. We empathize with Lola as most of us know someone just like her. Shattered Globe once more demonstrates why they are one of Chicago’s finest Equity theatre companies. This is a terrific play."
Chicago Stage and Screen
- Highly Recommended
"...Director David Cromer lets Inge's subtle 1950's portrait of Middle American despair and depression simmer on slow boil, and elicits marvelously nuanced work from the Shattered Globe cast. Reiter is a continued revelation - sad, touching, dreamy, longing, and even a few moments of rapturous joy are all beautifully conveyed with the smallest look and gesture. Likewise, Judd's silent opening routine preparing breakfast is nearly a wordless monologue, and his second act breakdown is frightening to watch."
