Chicago Sun Times - Highly Recommended
"...Designer Joe Schermoly's set - a terrifically claustrophobic attic room - is ideally dreary. But this storefront production from Redtwist blazes with such a combustible mix of vitriol and heartbreak that it creates its own hellish light."
Chicago Reader - Recommended
"...Redtwist Theatre's detailed world of cigarettes and hot irons sets the stage for the disturbing events that follow-like the sex game of "bears and squirrels" Jimmy plays with his wife, Alison (the dynamic Baize Buzan). In the end Joseph Wiens's ferocious Jimmy truly is a beast both dangerous and pitiful, trying desperately to recover his humanity and showing us the darker side of our own."
Centerstage - Highly Recommended
"...The direction by Jonathan Berry is brave and infuses this drama with life and relevance to today’s world. Upon its original premiere, the play was deemed controversial, and very shocking. Today, we aren’t shocked as easily. Berry uses our society’s remove to highlight the ever present danger of falling back into a world where the young are ignored by the old, and the old are written off by the young. A man is only complete when he is useful."
Time Out Chicago - Highly Recommended
"...But don’t be misled to thinking this is a heroic play. It’s a domestic struggle shaped by massive forces of class and history. Director Jonathan Berry nails the attention to detail that defines British drama—passing looks, hand gestures performed or not performed, infinitesimal hesitations in speech. He lets the smallest things speak for people who feel there’s no glory left for them—even by proxy. They revel in the demise of Edwardian society even as they desperately long for the power that class lost, and now rich and poor are staring at a bleak future."
Theatre By Numbers - Somewhat Recommended
"...Clocking in at just under 3 hours, the show is an effective museum piece for those who are interested in what realism was like when it first shook up the London stage. For those wanting the grit and muscle of a good, modern bit of realism, I would look elsewhere."
Chicago On the Aisle - Highly Recommended
"...Jimmy Porter is a bright but very angry young working-class Englishman who has grown to adulthood in the decade following the end of World War II. While he has married somewhat above his social grade, his life is going nowhere. In John Osborne’s searing 1956 play “Look Back in Anger,” Jimmy consecrates his sharp wit and tireless energy to a seething, circular rant."
ChicagoCritic - Recommended
"...The Redtwist Theatre space allowed the audience to become guests in the already cramped apartment, beautifully designed by Joe Schermoly. I can’t imagine this play being nearly as effective in a proscenium auditorium. If you’ve ever wanted to see this show, now is the time to do so. To sincerely experience the brutal realism, it needs to be seen in a small theatre. The set design and props did well to bring me into the time and space; however, my suspension of disbelief was broken when electronic cigarettes were used in place of real ones. Since the play falls under the category of realism, anything that would have broken that realism should have been cut. Other breaks in the realism consisted of certain moments played directly to the audience. Normally this would not be an issue, but earlier on the play had already made the choice that it was acceptable for the actors to upstage themselves and each other at times, strongly implying a “fourth wall” that the audience sits behind. In this context, “playing out” would suggest the characters are talking to wall."
Chicago Stage and Screen - Highly Recommended
"...Redtwist has built a solid reputation for daring and aggressive programming backed up by excellent productions. Look Back in Anger is a great addition to that tradition."
