Chicago Tribune
- Highly Recommended
"...The production is exquisitely cast. Frankly, this is the best directed show at Steppenwolf in all kinds of important ways since well before the pandemic and the theater really should be focused on finding Freeman more shows to direct. It might sound perverse to say that "Mr. Wolf" is welcome at the door of the 'Wolf, but shows like this exploring human coping mechanisms with such detailed compassion and even-handed understanding will always be essential to life in our great city."
Chicago Sun Times
- Highly Recommended
"...A superb production and a dream cast at Steppenwolf Theatre invest Rajiv Joseph’s 2015 play “Mr. Wolf” with a level of atmospherics and complex emotion that make a somewhat spare story a rattling one."
Daily Herald
- Highly Recommended
"...Every parent's nightmare - the loss of a child - underscores "Mr. Wolf," Rajiv Joseph's disquieting play about trauma and survival (or more specifically post-trauma survival), whose taut, terse Chicago premiere inaugurates Steppenwolf Theatre's 50th anniversary season."
Chicago Reader
- Highly Recommended
"...But the real revelation here is Hanson, who memorably played another young woman caught up in a nightmarish and closed-off world of family loss in Brett Neveu’s The Malignant Ampersands three years ago at Red Orchid. Her Theresa is both preternaturally insightful and heartbreakingly unaware of the infinite nuances of relationships. Hanson’s increasingly raw and honest performance makes the final moments of this play one of the most aching and lovely scenes I’ve encountered in a long time."
Stage and Cinema
- Highly Recommended
"...Steppenwolf Theatre's Chicago premiere of Mr. Wolf is a searing examination of parental sacrifice, loss, and the elusive nature of home. Under K. Todd Freeman's direction, this production takes what could be an exploitative premise and instead delivers something hopeful and profound."
Let's Play Theatrical Reviews
- Highly Recommended
"...While not a direct dramatization of the real-life kidnapping, the play Mr. Wolf by Rajiv Joseph, a Cleveland native, was inspired by and draws from the circumstances of the Cleveland kidnappings carried out by Ariel Castro. The narrative of Joseph delves into the intricate relationship that forms between the kidnapper and his captive. It explores her rescue and the transition into her new life with her parents, highlighting their emotional interactions."
Around The Town Chicago
- Recommended
"...Steppenwolf Theatre's 50th anniversary season opens with "Mr. Wolf" by ensemble member Rajiv Joseph. A gorgeously crafted production, featuring incredible sets, fine acting, and phenomenal directing by K. Todd Freeman, the show holds our attention with all its twists and turns."
Buzz Center Stage
- Highly Recommended
"...Rajiv Joseph's Mr. Wolf is a striking departure from the warmth and humor of his recent King James. Where King James used the comfort of sports as a language of friendship, Mr. Wolf asks us to sit inside the fragile, fractured space of trauma. In Steppenwolf's intimate production, ensemble member K. Todd Freeman directs with an unflinching precision that refuses to soften the material. His approach creates a space where silence weighs as heavily as dialogue, where each pause presses the audience closer to the raw pulse of grief, survival, and uneasy healing. This is a small play set against a very large world, and its intimacy makes it resonant."
The Fourth Walsh
- Highly Recommended
"...MR. WOLF is engrossing! Upon arrival, the stage is set for mystery. Projection Designer Rasean Davonte' Johnson overlays the image of a farmhouse in front of a darkened interior with lamp lights providing a glimpse into life inside. The look is quiet and ethereal. The curtain rises to reveal a well-stocked library and Emilie Maureen Hanson (Theresa) sprawled on the floor drawing. When Tim Hopper (Mr. Wolf) arrives, an animated- almost manic Hanson begins spewing out a litany of musings. It's a mishmash of astronomy, physics and conceptual thinking. A delighted and scared Hopper calls her a prophet and tells her The World is coming for her."
Chicago Culture Authority
- Highly Recommended
"...This is a story briskly told in a single 85-minute act. As a result, the production's punch relies on director K. Todd Freeman's precise pacing and the seemingly small but hugely significant dramatic choices made by actors Kate Arrington, Tim Hopper, Caroline Neff and Namir Smallwood-all of whom are also members of Steppenwolf's ensemble."
Splash Magazine
- Highly Recommended
"...There is the intricate malleability of the stagecraft- the building that collapses into a home, the furniture that slides apart with the characters upon it, lit by mercurial projected symbolic light-effects. There are the invisible footsteps of the director, who manages to open and close a torture-chamber into and out of a cozy home. There is the splendid acting that takes us into the hearts of persons assaulted by relationships, angered and cramped, who bloom again in steadfast hope. Ultimately, there is the play itself, opening door after door into life itself, wonderful everyday life, messy and complicated as it always is."
BroadwayWorld
- Highly Recommended
"...MR. WOLF is a tough, tough play to watch - especially as it becomes clear that the trauma Theresa has experienced at the hands of Mr. Wolf is worse than Hana, Michael, and Julie originally thought. The play ends on a truly emotional, optimistic note, however. I can generally count on Smallwood to make me feel big feelings in the theater (aka shed tears). While I won't share details, in the final scene, Smallwood and Hanson have a resonant and subtle exchange. That glimmer of light at the end of the tunnel is profoundly necessary."
