Chicago Tribune
- Recommended
"...In this late stage of his remarkable career, Galati seems increasingly drawn to mythic stories that attempt overarching explanations of existence. This is his second attempt to theatricalize Murakami (the first was "After the Quake," which did well nationally). And while the full metaphoric parameters of this latter story are actually even harder to render in coherent form—to wrestle dramatically with this novel is to be foolhardy indeed—this still strikes me as the more theatrically successful of the two adaptations."
Chicago Sun Times
- Recommended
"...At the center of this multi- threaded production, now in its world premiere at Steppenwolf Theatre, is a thoughtful, precocious, deeply troubled 15-year-old Japanese boy who has named himself Kafka in homage to the Czech-born Jewish writer (a writer, incidentally, whom Murakami credits as a primary artistic inspiration)."
Daily Herald
- Recommended
"...all in all this is a fine reworking of a difficult, challenging, complicated text, one that achieves the rare distinction of dissecting the original without killing it. Hey, at least Galati left out the fish and frogs falling from the sky. That will just have to wait for the movie version."
Chicago Reader
- Somewhat Recommended
"...The key to staging the novel (no simple task) lies in reproducing its dreamlike air. Adapter-director Frank Galati's visually restrained production occasionally achieves moments of quiet poetry, but the staging is scattered rather than fluid and the almost episodic script fails to recreate Murakami's illogical but unified cosmos. Robbed of its idiosyncratic cohesion, the story loses its eerie power and becomes flat and haphazard. Instead of dreaming we get sleepwalking."
Windy City Times
- Recommended
"...So it goes in Steppenwolf Theatre's alternately maddening and gratifying Kafka on the Shore. Adapted for the stage and directed by Frank Galati, Kafka is gorgeous, poetic and enigmatic. Like James Joyce's equally challenging Ulysses, every action, character, place and object within Murakami's densely, double-plotted story symbolizes something else. Scratch the surface and you find your peering down endless, twisting rabbit holes of myth, legend and subtext."
Chicago Free Press
- Somewhat Recommended
"...'Chance encounters keep us going' is the trenchant lesson here, but, like much here, it’s insubstantial and vanishes like a dream. We’re left with performances that persuade more by look than language. These include handsome Christopher Larkin’s sweetly sincere teenager, Jon Michael Hill as his athletic alter ego, Lisa Tejero’s maternal librarian and David Rhee’s brain-damaged survivor. They’re convincing but their context is not."
EpochTimes
- Highly Recommended
"...A marvelous cast has been assembled to bring these segments of life and history together on a unique and very workable set by James Schuette, fantastic lighting effects by James F. Ingalls and original music and sound design by Andre Pluess and Ben Sussman (when you see their names, you know you are in for perfection). Christopher Larkin handles the teen age boy Kafka with the right touch of innocence, but with adventure in his heart. Jon Michael Hill is, as always, a very reliable actor in any type of role. Francis Guinan handles many roles but steals his Colonel Sanders and Johnnie Walker scenes- he truly shows that he can do anything in the special roles."
Copley News Service
- Recommended
"...I’m firmly in the camp of audience members who find “Kafka on the Shore” imaginative, theatrical, dramatic, and fascinating. Having read the novel, I was prepared for the puzzles of the narrative. People will be best served by taking the play as it comes and make no attempt to arrange the events into a conventional story that connects all the dots."
Edge
- Somewhat Recommended
"...Kafka on the Shore, the new Frank Galati-directed Steppenwolf Theatre production is an enigmatic work -- intriguing, complex and beautifully staged, with some memorable performances. Yet as intellectually interesting as Kafka on the Shore, it is also cold, confusing and distant."
Chicago Stage Review
- Highly Recommended
"...James Schuette’s scenic design and James Ingalls lighting design create the ideal dreamscape for this profound mirage of practical unreality and emotional speculation to unfold. The ensemble is spellbinding with exceptionally compelling performances delivered by Francis Guinan, David Rhee and Lisa Tejero. Galati’s brilliant offering is the perfect way to open Steppenwolf’s season, dedicated to the exploration of the imagination."
Time Out Chicago
- Somewhat Recommended
"...Kafka’s most entertaining moments happen when Galati shows us the deadpan relationship Murakami’s characters have with sex; the year’s most emotionless handjob is seen here, to marvelous effect, amid starkly delivered monologues about sexual coming of age. But even with a gorgeous dark-cobalt set, there’s not much to draw us into Murakami’s world; the frigid emotional remove of spoken prose and the lack of engaging theatrical devices—if ever there was a need for rock & roll theater, I’d argue Murakami calls for it—make Kafka less accessible than intended."
ChicagoCritic
- Highly Recommended
"...We meet God in the form of Johnny Walker and Colonel Sanders (Francis Guinan) as this enticing and artistic enchanting (and often funny) play unfolds. The staging is outstanding and the lighting (by James F. Ingalls) and sound (by Andre Pluess and Ben Sussman) are amazingly powerful. The story comes together as the principals eventually wake up to the reality of their own lives. Their journey produces a special theatrical treat."
Chicago Stage and Screen
- Recommended
"...Thanks to the outstanding performances in "Kafka on the Shore," the baffling narrative encourages theatergoers to experience storytelling in an entirely new way. Award winning Director Frank Galati and the very gifted and daring Artistic Director Martha Lavey believe wholeheartedly that "Kafka on the Shore," based on the best-selling book by Haruki Murakami, is the thrilling and exciting story Steppenwolf devotees are waiting for."
