Chicago Tribune - Recommended
"...Petersen knows his way around truth and shows us plenty here. But he works in a relatively narrow comfort zone. This is a controlled performance. It is carefully nuanced. It is honest. It teeters on the brink of extensive emotional engagement. But it is insufficiently expansive and theatrical. It needs at least the empty attempt at an existential howl. Petersen should let loose a little and chase off the demons at the rear of the theater."
Chicago Sun Times - Highly Recommended
"...Petersen's beautiful performance as the most ambivalent of men is at once filled with vitality and a certain inner resignation, and this creates the perfect tension. After his nearly decadelong run on the small screen with "CSI," it is great to have this actor back on a stage, and he brings to his portrayal of a compulsively selfish and self-judging man a whole new subtlety and depth."
Daily Herald - Highly Recommended
"...Dublin Carol is about sustaining a human connection, about grounding oneself through relationships with others. Petersen grounds this production, which is directed with subtlety and deliberation by ensemble member and Tony Award nominee Amy Morton. Petersen's muted, inherently truthful performance is acting's equivalent of a meat-and-potatoes dinner. It's filling, unpretentious and wholly satisfying, the perfect complement to McPherson's intimate tale of a man who has no intimates."
Chicago Reader - Highly Recommended
"...Dublin Carol is hardly a cheerful way to kick off the winter holidays. But it’s a brave and appropriate offering for a season whose emphasis on festivities and family reunions can trigger depression, painful revelations, and alcohol abuse. As the title suggests, it owes something to Dickens’s A Christmas Carol. Both works are about a lonely man trapped in a psychological prison of his own making."
Examiner - Recommended
"...There’s no hallelujah chorus, no pageantry, no trumpets proclaiming joy to the world. But the joy is there nonetheless, a gift from the playwright, and Steppenwolf’s gifted artists."
Windy City Times - Recommended
"...salvation doesn't always announce itself with fanfare, even in plays. Since McPherson's play—written while still consorting with spirits of the destructive kind—is essentially a monologue interrupted by other characters, it's easy to overlook the subtle manifestations of Plunkett's quiet despair in a business where the transience of the corporal world is impossible to ignore, or the moment when he makes the decision to alter the course of his life. Unlike Dickens, McPherson doesn't supply an epilogue to tell us how long his resolve continues, but for now, the first step is enough."
EpochTimes - Recommended
"...All three of the actors in this production are solid and for the most part hold their Irish brogues.Kevin Depinet's set is very realistic and Robert Christen's lighting sets the proper tone. The sound and music by Rob Milburn and Michael Bodeen adds the right touch to this Steppenwolf recipe for Irish stew ( which will be followed up in December when Mr. McPherson's "The Seafarer" takes the stage. While all of this takes place in a small Irish community- the tale can reach all races and can evoke to same feelings from any audience member- think hard and you will see your Russian uncle, your Mexican Popi or any other ethnic group- the moral of this story knows no bounds."
Copley News Service - Recommended
"...The two supporting characters are ably played by Nicole Wiesner as Mary and Stephen Louis Grush as Mark. Wiesner in particular is exceptional as the daughter victimized by her weak, failure-driven father. She extracts a promise from John to visit his wife and pleads with him to stay sober for the visit."
Chicago Stage Review - Somewhat Recommended
"...Amy Morton directs a solid cast in a visually attractive yet austere production that gets everything right on the surface but shows little signs of much existing underneath the tight delivery of dialogue. Lines, interactions and reactions are effective but appear telegraphed. They are routed in the right direction and reach the appropriate emotional destinations but lack spontaneity."
Time Out Chicago - Recommended
"...Directed by actor Amy Morton, apparently on a very productive lunch break between the Broadway and London productions of August: Osage County, Dublin boasts none of the spiritual uplift one might expect from a show whose title invokes the rare happy Dickens story (and McPherson’s forced Scrooge analogy doesn’t work anyway). But at its heart it has the crackling warmth of a winter hearth."
ChicagoCritic - Recommended
"...This powerful show will knock you sober as it drives home how loneliness and solitude are the most painful effects of alcoholism. John advises Mark to select intimacy with his girl over the isolation of the drink. The truthfulness of this marvelously acted play looms large. “Dublin Carol” presents an important message. You’ll be riveted to your seat for 85 minutes."
Chicago Stage and Screen - Somewhat Recommended
"...It's always nice to see a successful film or television star return to their stage roots, not only for the potential marquee value but to practice their craft in a meaningful forum before a live audience. Sad to report, Steppenwolf's "Dublin Carol" is a disappointing showcase for Peterson's talents. He has the richest and best developed of the play's three roles, and there's a quiet, workmanlike proficiency to his acting. Unfortunately, it never crosses into something powerful or emotionally grabbing."
