Chicago Tribune
- Somewhat Recommended
"...This 2007 script—in its first Chicago production at TimeLine Theatre—is a literate and intelligent play that grapples with the ever-vexing issue of who runs the narrative. TimeLine hangs its hat on plays about history. And as the historian David McCullough lamented in Chicago on Sunday morning, ponderings of the American past occupy too little of our cultural time. This, happily, is a work of substance."
Chicago Sun Times
- Recommended
"...Gibbons' multi-faceted arguments are thought-provoking though hardly unfamiliar at this point, but they serve as a fine, prosaic counterpoint to August Wilson's more poetic vision. And no matter how the 2008 election turns out, it wouldn't be at all surprising to learn the playwright has appended a fourth installment to his trilogy."
Chicago Reader
- Somewhat Recommended
"...A House With No Walls is engrossing because of its willingness to tackle head-on one of the biggest elephants in the room of American culture. But Cadence and Salif come across as less interesting than the topic, because their engagement with the history of slavery and racism remains rhetorical."
Examiner
- Highly Recommended
"...Deftly directed by Louis Contey, the issues in Gibbons’ work don’t overwhelm the story or sink the dialogue. Instead, a top-drawer ensemble navigates multiple centuries and dueling points of view in disparate worlds that range from the rarefied halls of academia to raucous rallies on National Park sites."
Copley News Service
- Highly Recommended
"...Louis Contey, as usual, directs with sensitivity and intelligence, keeping the multiple racial and political strands clear. Collette Pollard designed the evocative set that resembles the excavated slave quarters. Alex Wren Meadows designed the costumes, Diane D. Fairchild the lighting, and Andrew Hansen the sound along with the original music."
Time Out Chicago
- Recommended
"...Artfully shifting from this scenario to the escape of one of Washington’s slaves, Oney Judge, 200 years earlier, the script miraculously avoids caricature, preachiness, pedagogy or sentiment, allowing for the possibility of moving on from the past without pretending it doesn’t still color the present. As Camara and Lane, Smith and Friendly, respectively, deliver crisp, assured, lived-in performances, deftly grounding the dialectics in flawed yet dignified humanity."
ChicagoCritic
- Highly Recommended
"...This thoughtful drama is rich in ideas and dilemmas that this current Presidential election may solve. Starr Friendly and Smith are powerful advocates for both points of view in the black community. Kudos to Timeline Theatre for presenting such an innovative play. “A House With No Walls” frames the debate that still rages for the hearts and minds of all Americans. This show is excellent theatre."
Chicago Stage and Screen
- Highly Recommended
"...What a pleasure to find a work as thoughtful, gripping and eloquent as this in the hands of one of Chicago's finest theatre companies. Director Louis Contey brilliantly intermingles the past and present into a haunting whole that is never less than dynamic. Veteran actor A.C. Smith is a powerhouse, as anyone who witnessed his Jeff award winning portrayal of Troy Maxson in August Wilson's "Fences" at Court Theatre will attest."
