Chicago Tribune
- Recommended
"...Griffin's new production, which restages the play for 12 ensemble performers, uses a bevy of the fine Chicago character players -- the likes of Ora Jones, Keith Kupferer, Elaine Rivkin and, best of all here, Steve Key. It's a slick, arresting, fast-moving show replete with video monitors and archival footage and booming live percussion (an idea that adds dramatic force, but also has the effect of banging you over the head with every dramatic moment, even before you've fully experienced it)."
Daily Herald
- Recommended
"...Fast-paced, well-acted and engrossing, this revival of Emily Mann's documentary-style play about the trial of San Francisco supervisor Dan White, who murdered mayor Frank Moscone and fellow supervisor and gay activist Harvey Milk in 1978 makes for an engrossing courtroom drama."
Chicago Reader
- Not Recommended
"...But rather than let the facts speak for themselves, director Gary Griffin's 12-member ensemble indulges in strident overacting, accompanied by intrusive, manipulative musical commentary by percussionist Andy Jones. The only emotionally honest performance comes from Steve Key as White, which makes the killer more sympathetic than Mann probably intended."
Gay Chicago Magazine
- Somewhat Recommended
"...In its original production, “Execution of Justice” was successful, having a run on Broadway in 1986. About Face offers the first major production of the work in 20 years. Unfortunately, this new vision of the play, even with the genius of director Griffin and a fine group of actors from a quality theatre company, does not pay off."
EpochTimes
- Highly Recommended
"... The setting is
mostly in the courtroom, but the video screens designed by Logan Kilbens and the music by Andy Jones and sound by Andre Pluess along with the lighting by Brian Sidney Bembridge ( who also did the set) all work to emphasize what should be emphasized- the story. A powerful story, superbly done by this cast."
Time Out Chicago
- Recommended
"...A play that dramatically represented its characters (the absent Milk and Moscone but even and especially White, here mere cartoon) could’ve achieved understanding through empathy, even discomforting empathy—as theater does. Instead, Execution confirms our awareness of the cultural divide (San Fran’s and, by extension, ours today) rather than broadening, much less challenging, our comprehension of it."
ChicagoCritic
- Recommended
"...The play grips us and features terrific acting as it methodically presents the miscarriage of justice. This is an important work that is a timely wakeup call for us."
