Chicago Tribune - Highly Recommended
"...Mahoney — whose performance in director BJ Jones’ superb world-premiere production is, I think, the best work I’ve ever seen him do on stage — understands that the agony of suffering from progressive memory loss is not best reflected theatrically through trepidation and confusion. On the contrary, it is best expressed through strength. Only then do we understand what is being lost."
Chicago Sun Times - Highly Recommended
"...Mahoney, whippet thin, fast-talking and sly, expertly captures the brutal frustration inherent in advancing Alzheimer’s, while also suggesting the innate irascibility and cruelty Gunner was capable of as a younger man. Reed is wonderfully transformed in this role — determined and feisty, but softer than usual, and lighter of voice, so that she truly suggests Gunner’s youthful emory of her as his working class Grace Kelly. And Cox deftly suggests that Jack is very much the product of his parents’ long-running emotional tug of war."
Daily Herald - Highly Recommended
"...
There is so much to admire in “The Outgoing Tide,” including Brian Sidney Bembridge's sun-dappled cottage set and moments of knowing humor. But it's the actors and the characters — Gunner, Peg and the middle-aged son caught painfully between them — that give “The Outgoing Tide” its power."
Chicago Reader - Highly Recommended
"...John Mahoney flows convincingly between the painful confusion of encroaching senility and peppery defiance as the patriarch, Gunner; his stellar performance is well matched by Rondi Reed as Gunner's loving-but-steely wife, Peg, and Thomas Cox as Jack, the grown son suffering his own defeats at life's hands. After the hysteria over death panels, it's a relief to find a play that deals intelligently with those who embrace the dying of the light on their own terms."
Windy City Times - Highly Recommended
"...It takes a likewise steadfast production team to pull against the urge toward knee-jerk emotionality—after all, this is America, where frontier values declare every life worthy of preservation (an attitude diminishing in popularity under economical pressure, but that's a subject for another play). Director BJ Jones and a cast led by John Mahoney, with muscular support forthcoming from Rondi Reed and Thomas J. Cox, never flinch from Graham's unswerving candor, commanding our attention right up to the final moment when Andrew Hansen's superlative seaside soundscape signals Gunner's farewell ferry ride on the Chesapeake Styx."
Copley News Service - Highly Recommended
"...John Mahoney plays Gunnar and it’s the best stage performance I’ve seen from him, going back decades. Mahoney forces us to share Gunnar’s pain and frustration, and his recognition that he has not led a model life. His only way to make amends is to depart this life with some dignity and provide his family with financial security. It may not balance out a flawed life but it’s the best he can do, for Meg and Jack and for himself."
Talkin Broadway - Highly Recommended
"...Set against a realistic representation of a waterfront gray clapboard house by set designer Brian Sidney Bembridge, and with sound effects by Andrew Hansen suggesting the water in which the audience is presumably sitting, this production is strong enough for a Broadway transfer. It's entertaining and thoughtful, with three great roles that would be catnip for any number of actors, though it would be hard to picture anyone doing a better job than Mahoney, Reed and Cox."
Chicago Stage Review - Highly Recommended
"...Northlight Theatre presents an extraordinary world premiere of playwright Bruce Graham’s compelling and challenging play, The Outgoing Tide. Director BJ Jones crafts a powerful production from start to overwhelming finish."
ChicagoCritic - Highly Recommended
"...The Outgoing Tide is a powerful work devoid of sentimentality yet filed with an honorably honest conclusion. This drama hums with dark humor that underscores the powerful emotions. John Mahoney gives a tour de force performance as the confused Gunner. Rondi Reed and Thomas J Cox were marvelously honest as the loved ones struggling to understand Gunner’s decision. Graham’s tight, well written drama focuses on the right of an individual to leave this life with dignity. He vividly depicts how those left behind must demonstrate their love through understanding and acceptance. The Outgoing Tide will stir controversy and ethical debates – so be it. With world class actors at the height of their art, The Outgoing Tide puts a face on the right to die with dignity dilemma that ring with so much truth that you’ll be thinking about Gunner’s choice long after leaving the theatre. This is a important “must see” show."
Chicago Stage and Screen - Somewhat Recommended
"... found Gunner's homophobia to be an unsettling subtext of the script, with numerous references to his disappointment with his son's love of cooking as a boy and his current job as a chef. We hear him rail about Jack becoming a momma's boys. We see Jack is a failure at sports - this time baseball, in contrast to Bill Loman's football skill - and there are many jokes about 'three dollar bills.' Jack's marriage surprised his mother, his children were not born for many years, and his divorce is never explained. Are we to infer something here? Or just expected to accept Gunner's not-so-subtle homophobia as natural for someone who grew up in that time and lived to be this age? I think it could have been handled with more grace."
Around The Town Chicago - Highly Recommended
"...This play looks at how these characters react to what destiny holds in store for them and the master plan that has been well thought out and does so in a highly emotional way. Now you know the “jist” of what Graham has placed on the canvass, but watching these actors perform it as directed by Jones will be an experience that will be one to remember. I promise you, you will feel for each of these characters and I suggest you bring plenty of tissues. The lighting by JR Lederle and sound by Andrew Hansen are the icing on this masterful production, one that I feel is destined to win awards here andwherever they go next( I heartily suggest this be the next play we send to those East Coast theater people in New York, so they can once again see just how strong Chicago theater is)."
Chicago Theater Beat - Recommended
"...The shock of a loved one turning into a bewildered stranger—that’s the curse of Alzheimer’s Disease. Like the wrath of God, in this new work it’s visited on a small family living on the shore of the Chesapeake. But it could easily be any in the audience. That’s one reason The Outgoing Tide, an effective world premiere from Northlight Theatre, is as much a rehearsal for the future as theater can offer. The other is the utter honesty of BJ Jones casting and staging."
