Cosmologies at The Gift Theatre

Chicago Reader - Highly Recommended

"...The result is a wild, fever dream of a play that keeps the audience guessing, and then, in the end, refuses to wrap things up neatly. This sounds like a mess, but Rabe somehow pulls it off. Or, I should say Rabe and the folks at Gift Theatre, under the direction of Michael Patrick Thornton, pull it off. Because this is the kind of play only an accomplished playwright in full control of his craft and a tight ensemble in full control of their instruments could make work."

Time Out Chicago - Somewhat Recommended

"...Cosmologies is too gaseous to succeed as either commentary or farce, and director Michael Patrick Thornton does Rabe few favors; the script’s dorm-room philosophizing is matched by this production’s stoned, slacker-ish staging and a cobbled-together set that might as well be a pile of furniture dumped curbside. It’s doubtful that even the most rigorous pacing could whip this formless play into shape, but shaving even a few minutes from the running time would help."

Chicago On Stage - Not Recommended

"...The Gift is an adventurous theatre, always ready to take on newer works and take risks with older ones. (Its recent Hamlet and Hang Man are proof of that.) But sometimes a theatre that doesn’t generally play it safe will end up with a play that just doesn’t work. Cosmologies is far less than the sum of its parts. Thornton and the prolific Rabe return to the Gift’s tiny stage sometime soon and will undoubtedly have more hits together. This just isn’t the one."

Picture This Post - Highly Recommended

"...This is a cast—all – and Director (Michael Patrick Thornton) that seems to have deeply considered and understood the richness of Rabe’s script and its potential to delight. For this writer, a favorite script gem that it would be so cool to read again and again is a soliloquy towards the end that co-mingles guilt about telling a lie with guilt about the likes of crimes against humanity, giving them equal readings in the guilt-o-meter. What a perfect speech for a recovering guiltoholic!"

NewCity Chicago - Somewhat Recommended

"...Various moments of violence and assault, especially toward the character of Teddy in the second act, could arguably be brushed aside with “dream logic,” but that same logic can’t explain why the three actors of color in this production are relegated to the most minuscule characters in the play."