Chicago Reader
- Highly Recommended
"... Brian Golden's staging starts out in the style of a live radio drama, with some cast members speaking into microphones while others provide sound effects. Gradually, though, the on-the-air conceit morphs into an eerie expressionist nightmare suited to the tale's 1930s setting."
Centerstage
- Recommended
"...Performed with allegiance to its radio play origin, the production is sleek and rhythmic, with ensemble members playing multiple roles. Both staging and costuming are solid, with live Foley artists adding an intriguing dimension to the action. Proctor, intense as fretful Lang, is easy to watch, and ensemble member Lindsey Pearlman stands out as she morphs from nasal secretary to gruff drugstore owner to coy reporter’s assistant."
Time Out Chicago
- Recommended
"...
Staged as an old-timey radio drama—with the cast in Depression-era costumes and sometimes holding scripts, microphones dangling from the ceiling, and a foley artist stationed behind a table—Theatre Seven’s production feels a little too cozily nostalgic early on. An initial torrent of funny sound effects and silly accents slows down narrative momentum, threatening to undermine one of Mamet’s greatest strengths: the ability to tell a cracking good yarn. Fortunately, once the hero recognizes his predicament, it’s as though director Golden suddenly realizes he’s staging a thriller, not a comedy, and the production tightens, toughens and snaps to life. The show is thus rather schizoid, but delivering 45 crisp, entertaining minutes in a 70-minute play ain’t too shabby."
ChicagoCritic
- Recommended
"...The use of ten actors playing many parts and the fine foley artists make for a pleasingly smart production. This storytelling style (a radio play format) showcases the talents of the cast. Voice inflections, sound effects, accents and articulation of Mamet’s precise dialogue worked to stimulate our imaginations into seeing Lang’s struggle to survive and hide his invention from those who would destroy him. This fable comes to life from the ambitious cast and clever staging by director Brian Golden. Radio plays work nicely on stage as the sounds and nimble acting propel the storytelling. Mamet’s classic cautionary tale is in good hands with this crew. The work is engaging and lively."
Chicago Stage and Screen
- Somewhat Recommended
"...The play is punctuated with a running warning for the unspeakable atrocities awaiting the reader who discards a chain letter. I'm not completely sure what this has to do with the plot, but it does give the proceedings a sense of omniscient danger. I wish that quality had been present in the rest of the performances, a couple of which are so perfunctory they seem to be sleep-walking through their flat line readings. Mamet's diabolical fable still has a clear warning to all of us about the dangers of Capitalism and what he believes to be a great lie of American democracy. I'm not sure I buy all his heavy-handed politicizing though. Like the rest of this well-intentioned production, it all seems a bit passé. But it still gives us something to ponder on freedom and liberty, as those wheels of progress continue to hurtle forward. "
Chicago Theater Beat
- Highly Recommended
"...Each cast member plays multiple roles in this play within a radio play. In fact, the 10 cast members portray over 40 parts, skillfully depicting radio actors, principals in the radio play and random Chicagoans in wonderful character sketches."