Chicago Tribune
- Recommended
"...I think this is Cox’s best acting in years. He’s now at that interesting age when he’s still young enough to play his long-honed specialty of adult characters reluctant to embrace their adulthood, but he’s now also old enough to evoke that time in life when regrets tend to overwhelm opportunities. He really gets his guy here. His co-star, Allison Torem, is still a senior in high school, but she’s a promising, empathetic and grounded actress."
Chicago Sun Times
- Recommended
"...While Blessing's story might not be entirely convincing in some of its more melodramatic plot aspects, the playwright unquestionably has nailed the behavior and lingo of an adolescent girl possessed of fortysomething knowledge she doesn't really know how to handle."
Chicago Reader
- Highly Recommended
"...Joe Jahraus's stark midwest premiere for Profiles Theatre is superb. Darrell W. Cox's self-conscious nonchalance is a perfect fit for the stepdad, a complex mix of compassion and self-absorption, good intentions and habitual detachment. And high school senior Allison Torem is unerring and devastating as the damaged girl, furious and fragile."
Examiner
- Highly Recommended
"...Directed with keen insight by Profiles Theatre's rock solid Artistic Director Joe Jahraus, Great Falls is a shining example of what the 20-year-old company does so well, so consistently: Peel past the surfaces of seemingly unremarkable people and - with generous, often jarring amounts of dark, dark humor - expose the raw, damaged emotional core that pretty much defines the human condition. The everyday badlands, if you will."
EpochTimes
- Highly Recommended
"...Director Joe Jahraus uses this very small stage to perfection and gives each of these characters that special something that makes an audience care for them. The set design by Chelsea Meyers is simple but functional and the lighting by Jessica Harpenau adds just the right touch along with Kevin O'Donnell's sound design. In a two person show, where they change the sets, the lighting and sound between scenes are of great import and often, we overlook the person who handles the designs of the sound and light which are handled by the stage manager, Nya Watkins flawlessly. This is the 20th year for this company and they continue to bring us captivating stories that are very real in content and spirit."
Copley News Service
- Recommended
"...Certainly the acting cannot be faulted. Torem is an actress who makes her teen-aged character come alive as an actual teen-ager, a girl carrying burdens no youngster should be required to bear. Cox’s stepfather defers to his stepdaughter through most of the play, until he rises with a couple of potent monologues, one about his failed marriage and another about his responsibilities to his stepdaughter, that elevate the play to genuine dramatic heights."
Centerstage
- Highly Recommended
"...Darrell Cox, who specializes in butter-hearted man-children, plays a writer trying to reconnect with his teenage stepdaughter via cross-country tourism. Critics say that Cox's performance, perhaps his best ever, is ably matched by stage daughter and genuine teen Allison Torem."
Time Out Chicago
- Recommended
"...Profiles Theatre has tended in recent years to ignore all but the nasty, brutish side of human nature (a function of relying too heavily on the work of Neil LaBute)—but not here. Cox, a pro at playing glib weasels, finds both sorrow and snake oil in the stepfather. And the excellent Torem, a high-school senior, carefully peels away the girl’s sulky exterior until she’s a raw wound."
ChicagoCritic
- Recommended
"...Darrel W. Cox sure is comfortable with this material as he weaves his character’s angst and guilt into a subtle cry for help. Allison Torem moves from defiant brat to scared sexual victim in a shaded performance that speaks to her talent. With the background of a road trip to National Parks, Great Falls looks at the complex dynamics of broken families and broken lives. No clichés here, only freshly plausible twists. Great Falls is worth seeing."
