Chicago Tribune - Recommended
"...“The Detective's Wife,” which opened Wednesday night at the Writers' Theatre in Glencoe under the direction of Gary Griffin, is, for sure, a theatrical procedural. A crime mystery. A genre piece. An overtly commercial play, copious references to the twist, turns and ghosts of “Hamlet” notwithstanding. And once its mysterious narrative of an unsolved murder and dead investigators finally unravels, you come to see it relies on a kind of conspiracy theory that, on my drive home Wednesday, got rather less convincing the farther from the theater I drove. Then again, I only arrived at that determination because I could not get the plot out of my head. I suspect a good portion of the theater-going population of the North Shore will be in the same position this summer as Robertson's mystery-loving Alice Conroy (I wonder if that last name was a coincidence or a veiled nod to police reporter John Conroy) tells the strange, sad story of the death of her beloved husband and the unsolved murder that ensnared the homicide detectives, night after night, in this little theater behind a bookstore that this character surely would like."
Chicago Sun Times - Recommended
"...It is an intriguing exercise — one that draws on elements of the classic psychologically-rooted, Victorian-bred, detective stories perfected by such writers as Wilkie Collins and Daphne duMaurier, even as it deploys a slew of contemporary markers — from Valium and other mood-altering meds to the elusive nature of all the electronic communication that now wafts through the ether of our universe. And it serves as a neatly feminine followup to “A Steady Rain,” Huff’s career-making work about the complex relationship between two Chicago cops, with a third part of his cop trilogy already completed."
Chicago Reader - Recommended
"...At one level, Huff's text offers an intriguing whodunit. At another, it's a writerly riff in which the widow gets conflated with both Prince Hamlet and Hamlet's mother, Gertrude. The Shakespearean overlay is self-conscious and gratuitous, but it's also got its fascination in that it leads to an unorthodox vision of who Gertrude is and what she might be thinking when she goes to sleep with the usurper, Claudius, at night. Perhaps because Robertson's so used to big stages, she was trying to sell the role rather than act it on opening night. At Writers', she can afford to bring down the amperage."
Windy City Times - Recommended
"...if you saw A Steady Rain and are expecting the same sort of punch-in-the-guts grittiness, you won't find it. The Detective's Wife has a more lady-like temperament, definitely more sly humor and also an ethereal quality, perhaps because of its ghostly element. A one-person work, too, always is going to seem more contrived than a multi-character play—because it is! It's a hazard of the form. Still, the production is a jewel and Huff's language is lovely."
Talkin Broadway - Recommended
"...Huff does a mostly good job of capturing a Chicago feeling. The crimes Alice's husband is investigating—a series of sexual assaults and murders of young boys—evoke memories of notorious Chicago killers like John Wayne Gacy, Richard Speck, and Loeb and Leopold. He believably sets the action in the Edgebrook neighborhood—a suburb-like enclave within the city limits popular with cops, teachers and other public employees who are required to live in the city. Huff loses just a little credibility in placing Jim's murder at a neighborhood movie theater in the once rundown (now slowly gentrifying) Uptown—a neighborhood which has not had a working movie theater in some 30 years."
Time Out Chicago - Somewhat Recommended
"...Huff’s plotting is herky-jerky—we’re yanked around among Alice’s grief journey, her relationship with her children and doctors, the suggestion of the supernatural and Alice’s investigation; characters are introduced with great import and then disappear; and the rushed denouement is deflatingly anticlimactic."
Chicago Theatre Addict - Recommended
"...I guess what I’m trying to say is the play is a little rough around the edges. But Robertson’s performance fills in the gaps: she made me believe in Alice and her passion to solve this crime, so the piece worked. In a less capable performer’s hands, however, Huff’s play might deflate."
ChicagoCritic - Highly Recommended
"...The Detective’s Wife is a marvelously engrossing theatrical event featuring a strong performance of a finely crafted suspense mystery. Roberston, Huff and director GaryGriffin present a completely provoking theatrical experience. Don’t miss this amazing show. With Roberston directly addressing the audience, I thought she was talking directly to me. That was rivetingly eerie."
Chicago Stage and Screen - Highly Recommended
"..."The Detective's Wife" is a riveting mystery and a genuine tour de force for one of Chicago's finest dramatic actresses, Barbara Robertson. It takes a great deal of fortitude, not to mention a keen memory, to hold court through an intense one-person workout such as this, and Robertson is more than up to the task. Under the direction of the estimable Gary Griffin, Robertson really seems to connect with each and every audience member in the intimate 50-seat bookstore space. We share her roller coaster of emotions, from depression and solitude to an eerie joy and exaltation. Having seen Robertson play the queen in two Chicago productions of "Hamlet," it was fun to see the references Huff makes to Shakespeare's tragedy, including a certain Detective Fortinbras. Barbara Robertson is a triumph in this taut and suspenseful acting workout."
Around The Town Chicago - Highly Recommended
"...What make this production complete is the music and sound by Rob Milburn and Michale Bodeen and special lighting by Heather Gilbert as well as some great projection work by Mike Tutaj and an enormous amount of props by Nick Heggestad. For those of you who have been to Writers’ Bookstore location ( yes, it is in the rear of the local bookstore) this is a very intimate venue ( around 60 seats) and so we, the audience are up-close with Ms. Robertson and get to watch her every gesture as if we were in the room with her and she was speaking to us one-on-one as she rebuilds her life after the tragedy. Her loss of voice has made her aware of other forms of communication and text messaging and e-mail are now part of her day. As the story goes on, we learn through her discoveries that there is much more to this case than meets the eye and with Huff’s writing,griffin’s direction and Robertson’s character building, you are in for a treat- two acts, one forty minute, the other 50 minutes of magic on stage. The ending will astound you!"
Chicago Theater Beat - Recommended
"...The Huff-Griffin-Robertson trio thrills. The whirlwind of widow’s musing compels the audience into the intrigue. The evidence mounts. The suspense escalates. The novel actualizes. It’s spellbinding. Without spoiling any plot twists, my only pause was some convolution in the relation of the 1988 incident to the present day. If this was indeed a murder by the book, I would have flipped back to examine the passage for clarity. Nevertheless, The Detective’s Wife reads like a bestseller-in-the-making."
