Chicago Tribune - Highly Recommended
"...This is a Chicago-style show in the best aspects of the term: furious energy, small theater, unstinting pain, sublimation of the individual into ensemble. You will also see Linda Gillum, Dennis Williams Grimes, Aram Mosinoff, Brian Plocharczyk, Rachel Shapiro and Stephen Spencer. Remy Bumppo has often made safe theatrical choices in the past. Not here. The visual environment, with projections created by John Boesche, is arrestingly beautiful, which might not be an adjective you expect."
Chicago Sun Times - Highly Recommended
"...The strength of Slobodzianek’s play (translated by Ryan Craig), lies in the way it captures specific personalities and the complex destinies and revisionist histories of those who survived the war. Its first act is familiar, and a bit predictable (misguided in its rosy myth of pre-Nazi “mutual acceptance” between Poles and Jews, and offensive in one comment involving a gang rape). But there is a real payoff in the acutely observed second act. And overall, this is a work of genuine chutzpah, with director Nick Sandys and his expert cast doing truly impressive work, and Slobodzianek sparing no one."
Chicago Reader - Highly Recommended
"...Tadeusz Slobodzianek's Our Class follows ten Jedwabne schoolmates as malign traditions overtake them, dividing them into Christians and Jews, Poles and outsiders, murderers and victims. Given a stark yet delicate (and, often enough, black-comic) staging by Remy Bumppo Theatre's Nick Sandys, the genius of the play consists in the fact that it doesn't stop with the crime but makes us watch as lies poison the decades that follow."
Windy City Times - Recommended
"...Director Nick Sandys and Movement choreographer Maureen Jansen have drilled their cast to a finely tuned precision, while Joe Cerqua's original compositions and John Boesche's projections conjure specific locales within Joe C. Klug's minimalist scenic design. The irony of such dazzling theatrical legerdemain employed in service of an epic better suited to a novel than to a play is that its cumulative effect is to send us home educated, enlightened and appropriately sympathetic, but curiously dry-eyed."
Time Out Chicago - Recommended
"...Darlow, Matt Holzfeind as the most craven opportunist of the Poles and Rebecca Sohn as a Jew who sticks it out by converting are among the most compelling in a collection of strong portrayals. But Slobodzianek loses dramatic tension by insisting on including every salient biographical detail—a common danger in dramatizing real lives, and confounding for fictional ones."
Theatre By Numbers - Highly Recommended
"...No character is without blame in the atrocities, though some are more devilish than others. And, as luck would have it, the better people die early on. The most despicable last longest. While the cast was really good, all the way around, I want to feature Dennis William Grimes and Matthew Holzfeind who brought the play’s most villainous characters to life. It’s a hard task to make such terrible people also empathetic, and they both did so, even despite the fact that Holzfeind’s character may have been a sociopath. And while Aram Monisoff and Rachel Shapiro played characters who passed on early in the plot, they brought to life more idealistic characters who are trod upon by the events in the town, and really brought home the horror that is appropriate to the related events."
Stage and Cinema - Somewhat Recommended
"...These cavils aside, Remy Bumppo's concentrated prosecution of an overlong play delivers solid stagecraft, buttressed by stunning work from 10 driven actors. No question, there's more than enough truth here to satisfy an audience. Yes, an embarrassment of exposition beats a threadbare text and some stories are more appropriately endured than enjoyed. But Our Class pushes its luck, and an endless epilogue nearly derails a worthy work."
ChicagoCritic - Highly Recommended
"...Kudos to Nick Sandys and his staff, including the marvelous projection designs by John Boesche for staging this work as a theatrical event packed with power and deep emotions that underscore and amplify the despicable acts. The entire cast acted as a dedicated ensemble wholly invested in telling the story without pulling any punches. Each player has several fine moments. Our Class is a 'must see' work that demonstrates the power of the live stage to present the multiple perspectives about a story too long denied. This work will makes us wonder what we'd do under the same circumstances. That thought should scare us if we honestly say what we'd do. Our Class is one of the finest plays produced on a Chicago stage this year!"
Chicago Stage and Screen - Highly Recommended
"...This production is one not to be missed. It does run for nearly 3 hours but there is never a moment when it lags. Be prepared for an emotionally draining work that will keep you thinking about it long after it ends."
Around The Town Chicago - Highly Recommended
"...The other characters in this play, are played to perfection by the amazing Linda Gillum, the powerful Matthew Fahey, The adorable Rachel Shapiro, Stephen Spencer, who take son a character who becomes the hunted and the hunter, Rebecca Sohn ( who captures the beauty of her character who converts to survive),Dennis William Grimes, Brian Plocharczyk, Aram Monisoff and Matt Holzfeind. This is a strong, energetic cast that keeps the mood of the story intact a sthey go in and out of narratives and music ( Joe Cerqua is the composer and the musical director and handles the sound as well)."
Chicago Theatre Review - Highly Recommended
"...In a play that’s more of a walk through history than an entertainment, audiences will experience first-hand the horror of the Holocaust in a way no textbook can. Truths are exposed, numbers turn into the names of real people putting faces to both the victims and the perpetrators. Audiences attending this unbelievably moving production will never forget the emotional journey taken in an intimate theatre on Lincoln Avenue."
Chicagoland Theater Reviews - Highly Recommended
"...It's erroneous to consider that "Our Class" will be of interest largely to a Jewish audience, though it is probable that he subject matter will attract Jewish spectators. But "Our Class" is an important play on its merits, and no more a niche show than "Columbinus" is a play for teenagers about a school shooting. "Our Class" deserves the support of anyone interested in powerful, relevant theater presented with visceral realism. The play could have slipped into a manipulative horror show but Remy Bumppo's production is up to every theatrical and thematic challenge. This theater has made its reputation with language driven English and American plays, many of them comedies. "Our Class" is a departure for the company, and a risky one considering the noncommercial nature of the subject. But patrons should attend, not out of a sense of duty, but to observe and honor a powerful and important piece of historical writing."
