Chicago Tribune
- Highly Recommended
"...Cromer is clearly trying both to treat the play (which features gorgeous sound from Josh Schmidt, Cromer's collaborator on “The Adding Machine”) as an overtly poetic conception (you will have never seen the nightmarish flores sequence better integrated into the whole) and also reveal its oft-hidden inner truths. You might not feel for Blanche, but you surely sense the danger of her situation and make a mental note never to be dependent yourself on the kindness of strangers."
Chicago Sun Times
- Highly Recommended
"...Josh Schmidt’s musical scoring blasts away any lingering hint of sentimentality. Though of course the real music here is by way of Williams’ language. All hail Tennessee, now and forever."
Daily Herald
- Highly Recommended
"...Cromer's touch is evident the first time we see Blanche, magnificently played by Natasha Lowe who deftly pairs the character's carefully cultivated delicacy with a sharp edge. A fading Mississippi belle disgraced by her appetites, Blanche seeks refuge at the home of younger sister Stella (Stacy Stoltz) and Stella's husband, Stanley (the sinewy Matt Hawkins). Blanche first appears bathed in white light that gives her pale skin the appearance of porcelain. The pale blue suit she wears has a jacket that hints at a bustle, a subtle reference to the Victorian mores to which she pretends. She's greeted by her sister's landlady Eunice (Jenn Engstrom), whose ruddy complexion, risque manner and visible bra strap provides a coarse counterpoint to Blanche's prim attire."
Chicago Reader
- Highly Recommended
"...Cromer doesn't pull any major theatrical rabbits out of his hat here, the way he did with his justly celebrated Our Town, first presented by the Hypocrites and still running off-Broadway. But his smart, sharply honed show tears away the Spanish moss of sentimentality that sometimes shrouds this play and lays bare our tragic flaws, both as individuals and as a people: our impatience with vulnerability, our inability to deal honestly with loss, our belief that things will be fine if only we can go back to a better time or get rid of those people who are keeping us from our true destiny. By anatomizing this quintessential domestic tragedy of manners with keen sympathy, Cromer and his cast have created a haunting disquisition on our national belief that making ourselves at home depends on excluding those who aren't like us."
Windy City Times
- Highly Recommended
"...Cromer, a director whose midas touch has earned artists' unwavering trust, has carefully instructed his ensemble to play text, not attitude, and in doing so, render every word important. Actors long a mainstay on the storefront circuit—Natasha Lowe as the doomed Blanche, real-life newlyweds Matt Hawkins and Stacy Stoltz as Stanley and Stella, Danny McCarthy as the repressed Mitch—deliver breakthrough performances to create personae free of academic cliché. And if their step-by-step approach to the 60-year-old script stretches its running time to three hours (with two intermissions), the fresh and intimate insights offered us is sufficient reward for our patience."
Copley News Service
- Recommended
"...Overall it’s good to have a decent rendering of “A Streetcar Named Desire” back on a local stage. And I won’t soon forget Lowe’s performance as Blanche. A more successful Stanley would have elevated this production to something really special."
Talkin Broadway
- Highly Recommended
"...The set isn't the only innovation Cromer offers in revisiting this classic, just the first and most obvious one. It takes a while to see where he's going with his Blanche. As played by Natasha Lowe, she seems younger than I typically picture the character, though with a striking resemblance to the young Jessica Tandy who originated the role in 1947. Cromer knows where he's going with her, though, and his production makes Blanche clearly, indubitably the focus of the story. Lowe plays her as determined and manipulative. Not mad or delusional, but as Williams' dialogue states, a woman who knowingly chooses to create fantasies for herself and others. It's a measured performance, with Lowe unafraid to push the envelope when called for, but never campy or over-the-top."
Time Out Chicago
- Highly Recommended
"...Cromer elicits from his terrific actors an intense engagement with Williams’s poetics. That, along with some organic embellishments—we won’t give them away but to say they enhance Williams’s coyer moments in a similar fashion as Cromer’s now-famous treatment of Our Town’s culmination—makes his Streetcar the most desirable act of the spring season."
ChicagoCritic
- Highly Recommended
"...Ultimately A Streetcar Named Desire rises or falls with who plays Blanche. Natasha Lowe brought a sense of nostalgia making her fantasies appear real. Lowe plays that demanding role with a sense of underlying self-destructiveness. She had the depth, the looks, and the gestures that powerfully and gradually took Blanche into the fantasy world toward insanity. Lowe has the Southern drawl down pat and she quickly displayed her vulnerability and sexual attraction. Her chemistry and sensual attraction toward Matt Hawkins’ Stanley worked to create enough tension to trigger an explosion. She wonderfully took us into Blanche’s dream world. Natasha Lowe is an actress of outstanding depth."
Chicago Stage and Screen
- Highly Recommended
"...Cromer has put together a wonderful cast to bring this story to life. The ensemble players, who mostly have very supporting roles, each take on their roles with the same energy as if their characters were as important as the main characters. Carolyn E. Nelson, Jenn Engstrom, Loren Lazerine, Esteban Andres Cruz, Ryan Hallahan, Rosario Vargas, Derek Hasenstab and Andrew Burden Swanson all prove that there are no small parts to a play. Each character adds something to the total picture."
Chicago Theater Beat
- Highly Recommended
"...Cromer corrals us into this world, and the powerful ensemble drags us along whether we like heading towards the impending cliff or not. When the house lights finally turn on, it feels like a tiny chunk of your soul has been ripped away."
