Chicago Tribune
- Recommended
"...Richard Shavzin's production isn't perfect -- the staging has clunky moments and, early on, needs more pace. But the show is beautifully cast and grabs you very intensely. ; "Ten Cent Night" is structured more like a screenplay, and you can see Wegrzyn with her own cultish TV series. But for the here and now in Chicago, this is a moving night of new theater worth far more than a dime."
Chicago Sun Times
- Recommended
"...director Richard Shavzin has expertly modulated the volatile scenes with the more poignant, intimate ones, and his uniformly gifted cast acts the stuffings out of this play. A first-rate way to herald the start of the Chicago Dramatists’ 30th anniversary season."
Chicago Reader
- Somewhat Recommended
"...Director Richard Shavzin's ensemble has a good handle on the beefy wit woven through Wegrzyn's dialogue--particularly the entrancing Anna Carini as Roby, heir-apparent to her wastrel father's ways. But the revelations here aren't so much shocking as dramaturgically convenient. Metaphors tend to poke up like busted springs on a sofa, and the emotional connections between the characters sometimes feel forced."
Chicago Free Press
- Highly Recommended
"...Director Richard Shavzin’s most admirable feat here is the level of natural detail he is able to extract from the performers. His taut pace and enthusiasm reveal themselves through the simplicity and magical energy of the cast. Shavzin’s rhythmical creation is also aided immensely by the multi-dimensional, rotating set design of Sebastien Grouard."
Gay Chicago Magazine
- Highly Recommended
"...The acting is compelling and true. Anna Carini offers an intense, physically energetic portrayal of Roby, simultaneously thief and angel. Joshua Rollins communicates silent Danny with clarity and heart. Lauren Patten as younger sister Sadie, gives a tender performance but seems too externally energetic for anyone, even aged sixteen, having a three-month prognosis. We believe Maura Kidwell as repressed Dee, the sister longing to experience love."
Centerstage
- Highly Recommended
"...It's unquestionable that any play with a running time of two hour and 45 minutes tends to make most audience members balk a bit. Two intermissions? Three acts? It does sound rather imposing. Luckily, Wegrzyn's dynamic script—along with the impressively versatile set design by Sebastien Grouard and the powerful performances of the entire cast—makes the time fly by."
Time Out Chicago
- Recommended
"...Shavzin’s otherwise plain production has three exceptional performances in Carini as the sister with the wandering heart and shit-kicking authority, Patten as the baby sis with literal and figurative heart problems, and wonderful Kidwell as the daughter who gets bubkes for holding down the family fort."
ChicagoCritic
- Recommended
"...Playwright Marisa Wegrzyn deftly resolves all the complications and plot twists neatly and plausibly. This is well thought out play that is a tad long as it could use some cuts—especially in the bonding scenes with the younger twins and the handcuff scenes with Roby. As presented, “Ten Cent Night” is a refreshing original work with shades of Lanford Wilson and Sam Shepard but with more quirkiness and humor."
