Chicago Tribune - Somewhat Recommended
"..."Howards End" really does have a lot to say now and, watching the show on Tuesday night, I just kept wishing that all of the very capable actors playing the various Wilcoxes of two sadly similar generations had been more determined to let us see their points of view, or, at least, the reasons for their actions. And in their best moments, you do see where they could have gone."
Chicago Sun Times - Recommended
"...Ultimately "Howards End" is a story with a soul, a play that captures the keening desire of each character to escape the constraints of their lives, an excavation of the pain that comes with the vulnerability of relying on other people, and poignantly illustrates the essence of exactly what makes a house a home."
Chicago Reader - Highly Recommended
"...Written by Chicago playwright Douglas Post and directed by Remy Bumppo artistic director Nick Sandys, this two-act production enhances the intimacy of live theater to reimagine the theme of "only connect," the novel's most-quoted phrase. Beginning after the funeral of Wilcox family matriarch Ruth, the rest of the Wilcox clan are introduced as detached and materialistic, more in shock over Ruth's decision to leave one of their homes,"
Stage and Cinema - Highly Recommended
"...Director Sandys admires Howards End for its power to "reach across divides" and "find balance." He, adaptor Post, and the perfectly picked and shaped performers honor Forster's sterling intentions, as did the splendid 1992 film with Emma Thompson, Vanessa Redgrave, Helena B0nham Carter, and Anthony Hopkins. Stronger ensembles, then or now, can't be imagined in service to this story."
Around The Town Chicago - Highly Recommended
"...Another World Premiere adaptation of a classic is on a Chicago stage. E.M.Forster’s classic novel, “Howards End” has been adapted for the stage by Douglas Post as commissioned by Remy Bumppo Theatre Company. This brilliant work is now on the stage of Theater Wit ( stage Two) located at 1229 West Belmont. English “drawing- room” comedies are not as easy to stage as one might think, because despite it being a comedy of sorts, the English concept of comedy is a bit different from our American style. So, it pays that Remy Bumppo has Nick Sandys to direct this piece and make it work!"
WTTW - Highly Recommended
"...Masterful on every count, Remy Bumppo Theatre's production of "Howards End" once again confirms this company's high standards. Beyond the impeccable acting of the nine-person cast, direction (in this case by Nick Sandys, its omni-talented artistic director) and design (exceptionally elegant sets and projections by Yeaji Kim and period costumes by Kristy Leigh Hall), it holds fast to a deep devotion to the most sophisticated writing, and a desire to tackle provocative ideas. And if Douglas Post's superb stage adaptation of Forster's fervent novel just happens to have arrived at the same time the "Downton Abbey" franchise seems to be growing stronger than ever, so be it. (They have quite a few things in common.)"
Chicago Theatre Review - Highly Recommended
"...Remy Bumppo opens its new season with Douglas Post's splendid adaptation of E.M. Forster's classic novel. The play explores London's evolving class system at the dawn of the twentieth century. Presented in a polished, finely detailed production, that's become the hallmark of this company, this play is expertly guided by the company's Artistic Director, Nick Sandys. It features an impeccable cast and is ably supported by an army of gifted, unseen theatre artists who flawlessly add their talents to help bring life this drama of class, ethics and romance."
The Fourth Walsh - Highly Recommended
"...The show has depth and charm. Post balances serious discourse with intellectual wit. Director Nick Sandys navigates his solid ensemble to deliver both with English sophistication. At the heart of the play is the sisters. And Chrisler and Stoughton rock this sisterhood! Their sense-and-sensibility chemistry is beautiful. Even when an exasperated yet controlled Stoughton is pleading with the righteous Chrisler, their loving connection is never in doubt. They understand and embrace their differences. Their relationship is homespun enchantment."
Third Coast Review - Highly Recommended
"...Director Sandys has a sterling cast to direct. in particular, the Schlegel sisters Stoughton and Chrisler both sparkle in their roles. Stoughton is a Remy Bumppo core ensemble member who has brightened the cast of recent plays such as Fallen Angels and Born Yesterday. Chrisler gave memorable performances in Machinal and Mies Julie."
Storefront Rebellion - Somewhat Recommended
"...Playwright Douglas Post, in penning this new stage adaptation commissioned by Remy Bumppo Theatre Company, must necessarily reduce both story and cast size. But in excising enough context and character development to fit Howards End onto a single stage and in two and a half hours' time, Post leaves us feeling a little like Helen and Margaret when they discover their family belongings unpacked willy-nilly into a new house: We recognize all the pieces, but nothing seems to be in the right place."
Chicago On Stage - Highly Recommended
"...Howards End is a well-acted play that illustrates the universality of Forster's work. It may have been written in Edwardian England, but it is clearly just as relevant today in the US. I'm not sure that is a good thing, but Sandys and Remy Bumppo present their commissioned adaptation beautifully, helping Forster's elegant social criticism to come alive. It's a very fine production that opens their new season on a strong note and is well worth seeing. "
TotalTheater - Highly Recommended
"...This is precisely the kind of literary project that Remy Bumppo Theatre does best. Chicago Author/Adapter Douglas Post's concise text compresses Forster's backstory-choked Edwardian yarn to a brisk two-and-a-half hours, while director Nick Sandys keeps the traffic patterns fluid and stage picture uncluttered in Theater Wit's tiny studio space, making for a constant flow of dramatic action. The technical values likewise reflect individualized detail, from Eva Brenneman's razor-edged dialects, to Christopher Kriz’s timeline score of curtain music, to Kristy Leigh Hall's character-revealing wardrobe (our final glimpse of the liberal-minded Schlegel sisters, for example, shows the more domestic of the two wearing the fashions of her older husband's generation, while her progressive sibling is dressed in the manner of the modern artists congregating in Munich.)"
Picture This Post - Recommended
"...If you liked the novel or the Merchant movie, you will like this production too. Kudos to Director/Artistic Director Nick Sandys not only for his expert touch in this production but also for staging this now, in a time when we watch the brief blip of class mobility rapidly disintegrate in the roiling seas of college tuition debt."
NewCity Chicago - Somewhat Recommended
"...In every successful play, there’s a point early on when you can sense the audience losing itself and becoming pulled into the world onstage. In “Howards End,” that moment never arrives. When the kindly, even-keeled Margaret finally calls out her husband for his callousness and hypocrisy, it’s a flash of raw emotion that should hit like a thunderclap. Instead, it feels like a tempest in an antique teapot. For all its finely etched details of performance and design—including Yeaji Kim’s film footage of turn-of-the-last-century , Edwardian London, which punctuates the scenes—the production is curiously airless and bodiless, as though everyone involved were so intent on making it pretty that they forgot to make it real. The epigraph of the novel is “Only connect.” That’s exactly what this potent moral fable turned inert costume drama fails to do."
