Heroes of the Fourth Turning Reviews

Chicago Theatre Review - Highly Recommended

"...Will Arbery's unique 2019 play, HEROES OF THE FOURTH TURNING, premiered Off-Broadway and garnered high critical praise and lots of accolades. It was a 2020 finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in Drama, as well. Called "a red-state unicorn" by The New York Times, Arbery's play explores characters in transition filled with ultraconservative viewpoints and ideas, an unusual quality in today's theatre. Beautifully directed with a steady fierceness by dado (director of A Red Orchid's VEAL and SIX MEN DRESSED LIKE JOSEPH STALIN), this production is heavy with learned ideas and political theories. With superb technical support by scenic designer Grant Sabin, lighting designer Josiah Croegaert and original music and sound designer Ethan Korvne, as well a gifted cast of actors, visit HEROES OF THE FOURTH TURNING ready to lean forward and engage your mind. Because one thing is certain: As a theatergoer you cannot look away."

Buzz Center Stage - Highly Recommended

"...Settling in for A Red Orchid Theatre's Heroes of the Fourth Turning, I knew next to nothing, having no familiarity with the playwright Will Arbery. Partly by design, I avoid preconceived notions and try to listen to the play itself, and watch the performers as I review. Even with so-called "canon" plays like Chekov or Miller."

The Fourth Walsh - Recommended

"...Four graduates of a conservative Catholic college return to their alma mater to celebrate a favorite professor being named President. Their reunion is a booze soaked existential crisis. Justin wrestles with the sins of his past. Emily is tortured by physical and emotional maladies.Teresa is a virtuoso of sanctimonious fervor. And Kevin spirals between becoming a priest or getting a girlfriend. In school, they united over an unwavering adherence to their faith and their teacher. In the real world, their rigid belief system has them on shaky ground. They are either digging their heels in deeper and/or seeking asylum in drink or denial."

Third Coast Review - Recommended

"...Will Arbery's 2019 Pulitzer Prize-finalist drama Heroes of the Fourth Turning might also be called the Four Horsemen of the Trumpocalypse, each communicating different end-times scenarios, or perhaps the four directions of conservatism as revealed on the rundown front porch and around the front yard firepit of an older graduate at a remote Wyoming Catholic college. Ensemble member dado directs this Chicago premiere."