Chicago Tribune - Somewhat Recommended
"...Eason gets a bit trapped with her narrator—who is a likeable presence but must hang in some very personal shadows here, looking a little awkward and, well, in the way. He has a few too many straight-from-the-narrative lines about Ethan Frome--like “he wanted to say…” That doesn’t feel necessary, given that actors like Smith, Tejero and Lamson are perfectly capable of showing us what their characters wanted to say. When the world is full."
Chicago Reader - Somewhat Recommended
"...Though Eason creates dialogue for the would-be lovers that's not found in the original, there isn't enough sense of danger in their veiled discussions. When Louise Lamson's Mattie talks about the beauty of flowers—the one thing she's learned a lot about in her stunted education—it comes across as nothing more than a reminder that Mattie is a rare spot of beauty in Ethan's gray world, which we've already figured out (thanks in part to Mattie's red scarf, which enlivens the gray color scheme of the play)."
Windy City Times - Recommended
"...But theatergoers anticipating the simmering sensuality of Eason's Sex With Strangers will find this romantic fable of frustrated affections curiously restrained. Yes, we are told of the passions leading the lovers to suicidal despair, but the two hours of dramatic action too often reduces to Ethan brooding, Zena complaining and Mattie making wide-eyes. To be sure, the results are a viable study aid for school groups taking advantage of the current fashion for page-to-stage literary classics—if only it didn't feel so much like homework."
Time Out Chicago - Somewhat Recommended
"...
The trouble is, what we’re told about the characters’ roiling emotions doesn’t match what we see in Eason’s alternately dour and cartoonish production. Tejero makes Zeena’s hysterical illness a matter of comic relief, while Lamson’s baby-voiced babe in the woods seems unlikely to inspire thoughts of elopement in a man with morals as rigid as Ethan’s. Aside from one striking visual set piece, Eason’s repetitive staging and thin theatrical metaphors (watch Smith and Erik Lochtefeld, as Ethan’s hired hand, stack and restack logs to mark the passing seasons) do little to justify the dramatization. In the title role, Smith is too reserved. Henry laments he’ll never know what it was truly like for Ethan to live such a tragic life; even after watching it unfold, neither will we."
ChicagoCritic - Highly Recommended
"...The power of this story is marvelously presented in the subtle, subdued nuances by Philip R. Smith in his understated performance as Ethan Frome. Nice work here. Louise Lamson’s Mattie exudes youth and innocence while Lisa Tejero’s Zeena is a controlling person with a strange sense of obligation. The story’s ending will stun and surprise you. This is an impressive and reserved work of art that depicts the tragedy of unfulfilled love and desire. The stoicism of rural life trudges toward and melts the vibrancy of passion. Ethan Frome is wonderful!"
Chicago Stage and Screen - Highly Recommended
"...Eason’s crisply cold staging, perfectly situated in Daniel Ostling’s clapboard farmhouse and withered winter trees, conveys the characters’ trapped desperation. They feel as hemmed in as any cursed sufferer in a Greek tragedy. As Ethan, who also recalls Job, Smith conveys both the broken survivor and the hopeful lover. It’s wondrous to watch him bloom into late love--but it’s an unnatural condition he can’t master for long. Tejero’s wicked watchfulness as all-knowing but helpless Zenobia is a force of nature—but so is a dust storm. In cunning contrast, Lamson’s spring like sweetness is the one thing that grows all year on this stony soil. Finally, Erik Lochtefeld, his New England accent perfect, richly suggests the belabored townsfolk of this forgotten hamlet. It takes a village."
Around The Town Chicago - Highly Recommended
"...This is a beautiful production on a marvelous set ( Daniel Ostling) and as usual Lookingglass Theatre’s stage is not the same as the last. This is almost arena style with seating on three sides and the intimacy of the seating arrangement allows the audience to feel the intimacy of the touching story. Christine Binder’s lighting, Mara Blumenfeld’s costumes, Rick Sims’ sound , William Anderson’s props and Kevin O’Donnell’s chilling music make this 90 minutes of theater as beautiful as the story itself."
Chicago Theater Beat - Highly Recommended
"...In creating a world that’s as bleakly spare as a frozen field, Eason (who also directs) gives Wharton’s prose a memorable impact. But that austere ambiance also serves to distance the audience from both story and characters. With Ethan Frome, you’re watching tragedy unfold from afar, as a spectator separated from the action by a scrim of frost. The effect creates a staging that is powerful but muted. Ethan’s troubles come to life from a distance, seen through a metaphorical lens lightly coated in rime."
