Chicago Tribune - Recommended
"...God, one thinks, people can get stuck with the wrong people. And once they’ve travelled far down the road, extrication is an endless nightmare. Such a message might not be your idea of a date night, but if you’re interested in hard truths, “Fifty Words” has plenty to say."
Chicago Sun Times - Recommended
"...Keberlein and Cox go at it like champion passive-aggressive boxers, with the sweat and black-and-blue marks proof of their combat. Their characters are not very likeable people. And while they might well deserve each other, you can only pity their poor kid."
Chicago Reader - Highly Recommended
"...Lord knows there's nothing new about married people yelling at each other, but Michael Weller's merciless two-hander captures in precise detail how it feels to be up at 3 AM, fighting with the one person who knows where all your sore spots are. As the combatants in Joe Jahraus's fierce production, Darrell Cox and Katherine Keberlein convey such a complex mix of savagery and vulnerability that choosing sides becomes impossible."
Examiner - Highly Recommended
"...But in Profiles’ Theatre's can’t-look-away staging, it doesn’t matter that Weller’s not doing anything new. Watching Keberlein and Cox tear rip the drama’s insular world to smithereens is both punishing and wholly compelling – the former because the wounds they so relentlessly expose are so raw, the latter because both actors are so unflinchingly committed to the painful passions of Weller’s locked-and-loaded dialogue."
Windy City Times - Highly Recommended
"...Eventually, the ever-thickening sheaf of issues becomes too much for a 90-minute play, but it's held together—and saved from tipping towards the ridiculous—by the strength and veracity of Keberlein and Cox as staged by Profiles artistic director Joe Jahraus, who embraces the play's swiftly changing rhythms. The play is abetted by scenic designer Thad Hallstein's stylish, colorful but claustrophobic upscale kitchen in a Brooklyn brownstone."
Northwest Indiana Times - Highly Recommended
"...When a dramatic play about conflict is done right, the audience can "feel" the tension in the air, and quite possibly, even feels a bit ill-at-ease watching and hearing an argument between characters unfold."
Copley News Service - Highly Recommended
"...There will be inevitable comparisons between “Fifty Words” and “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?” as a portrait of a marriage under siege. “Fifty Words” doesn’t come close to the Albee masterpiece. George and Martha are light years wittier and more intelligent as marital adversaries than Jan and Adam. But a play needn’t be as engrossing and entertaining as “Virginia Woolf” to engage an audience’s attention. And even if viewers have little patience with the stridency of “Fifty Words,” they can take pleasure in a pair of memorable performances."
Talkin Broadway - Recommended
"...Between its resonant theme, strong characterizations, and its suitability as a showcase for Profiles' brand of hyper-realism Fifty Words has enough going for it to merit a visit. Even if the play stoops to some easy dramatic tricks in its second half, we can give Weller credit for not proposing any easy answers to the troubles of this marriage. His play, like the marriage it depicts, is imperfect and complicated."
Time Out Chicago - Somewhat Recommended
"...If Fifty Words has any interest, it’s as an actors’ showcase, given the emotional gyrations it packs into 90 minutes. Cox and Keberlein are physically fearless and heroically committed as they plead with and lacerate one another. They don’t succeed, though, in generating a bond strong enough to convince us that this is a partnership worth watching.
ChicagoCritic - Somewhat Recommended
"...With all the passive-aggressive behavior the show played like a hot-cold struggle that became tedious from too many mood shifts. We become numb to them and we can’t understand why she tolerates him and why he wants to stay with someone with revengeful tendencies? This is a in-your-face sexually explicit show that some may find disturbing. I found it tedious."
Let's Play at ChicagoNow - Recommended
"...
Weller creates a hearty relationship stew. Jahraus stirs the pot with fury. Cox brings his trademark special seasoning. 50 WORDS peels back the onion for layers of civility, hostility, vulnerability, and insecurity. And at the core is love. Marital love is poignantly represented for its sting, stink and strength. For those with relational woes, this show will connect with dicey angst. For the hand-holding, smiling older couple across from me, 50 WORDS amused describing imperfect love perfectly."
Around The Town Chicago - Somewhat Recommended
"...While the production as a whole was well produced, I found it a bit over powering with the language and the nudity and 90 minutes ( no intermission) of almost non-stop yelling. Yes, there were a few tender moments, quiet ones where you felt that the story was really a love story filled with that special romance on a very special night for two people who have had very little time together in recent days."
Chicago Theater Beat - Recommended
"...Profiles’ production reveals the complexities of love, and the ways that secrets and lies can corrode it from the inside. I’m reminded of a quote from another great marriage crisis play this season, The Goat or Who Is Sylvia?: “Be careful who you fall in love with, because you might marry him.” Fifty Words is warning that no matter what word you use to describe it, love will always be an unpredictable force that can hurt as much as it heals."
