Chicago Tribune
- Recommended
"...For the narrative to really work, Song must be credibly female, and Rhee is undeniably masculine (rather than delicate) in physical type. But his performance within the performance is a thing to behold—believable and markedly desperate."
Daily Herald
- Recommended
"...The space poses a challenge for director P. Marston Sullivan and set designer John Zuiker. Still, they manage, by reducing its scale, to retain the inherent theatricality of this play. It unfolds as a series of flashbacks in which protagonist Rene Gallimard (the youngish Jeremy Young) relates the story of his affair with Song Lilong (Broadway veteran David Rhee) from his Paris prison, which Zuiker effectively transforms into a lovers' nest where the couple's blossoming romance is neatly reflected in the flowered panels that multiply until they cover the walls."
Chicago Reader
- Highly Recommended
"...P. Marston Sullivan's confident staging boasts commanding, nuanced performances by Jeremy Young as the arrogant, gullible Frenchman and David Rhee as his Maoist Mata Hari, as well as inventive set design by John Zuiker."
Windy City Times
- Highly Recommended
"...What's impressive is how effective and creatively director P. Marston Sullivan and designers John Zuiker ( sets ) , Michelle Julazadeh ( costumes ) and Christine Ferriter ( lighting ) each aggrandize this tiny storefront space. Aided by a hard-working cast, Sullivan thrillingly tells the tale of a French diplomat named Rene Gallimard (Jeremy Young in a confused spot-on performance) , who spends decades in a relationship thinking that Song is actually a woman."
Chicago Free Press
- Recommended
"...But the Bohemian Theatre Ensemble is nothing if not ambitious. Certainly it takes supreme confidence to navigate this tightrope of a show, especially within the confines of the miniscule Heartland Studio. Director P. Marston Sullivan and set designer John Zuiker found inspiration in that restriction, having envisioned a multi-layered set with scrims that transform from Gallimard’s prison to Song’s love nest. And the seven-member cast, led by David Rhee and Jeremy Young, deliver confident performances, though at times they forget they’re playing, almost literally, in some audience members’ laps, which would allow for more subtlety."
Time Out Chicago
- Recommended
"...BoHo’s Butterfly is eminently watchable. Scenic designer John Zuiker pulls off a rabbit-from-a-hat trick with his set, an interplay of scrims and levels that seems to expand the narrow Heartland Studio space. It’s an ideal backdrop for Sullivan’s fluid direction, which accelerates the action to an operatic denouement that’s thought-provoking yet rich in emotion."
ChicagoCritic
- Recommended
"...BoHo Theatre uses their small studio space at Heartland to mount terrific, in-your-face theatre. Their latest, David Henry Hwang’s M. Butterfly, is gem of a drama. It is a layered love story that covers themes like East verses West culture, men verses women and fantasy love verses reality. Loosely following Madama Butterfly and an actual French case of a diplomat being convicted of falling in love with a Chinese opera star who was a spy, M. Butterfly is a stunning piece of dramatic theatre."
Chicago Stage and Screen
- Recommended
"...Topping Boho's intimate chamber production is the masterful performance of Broadway and television veteran David Rhee, who is starring as Song through a special arrangement with Actors Equity. Rhee finds the perfect balance between the facade of feminine frailty and modesty and masculine aggression."
