Chicago Reader
- Somewhat Recommended
"...the effort runs out of steam about halfway through its nearly three hour running time, and the performances vary from accomplished to amateurish. Playwright-director-designer Tony Adams desperately needs the guidance of an objective director who can help him trim and reshape this promising material."
Windy City Times
- Not Recommended
"...Trickster is unrelentingly brutal, violent, inexplicable, humorless and misogynistic with animals and humans alike conveying tales of rape, murder, pillage and war. Its vocabulary is unnecessarily vulgar to no artistic purpose. The human characters are dressed in clothing that's dirty, bloody, sweaty or all three when they're dressed at all: Half the large cast appears in totally gratuitous nude scenes. At two hours and 40 minutes, Trickster is at least 40 minutes too long, although cutting it wouldn't make it a good play. Actors know when they're in a bad show. The wonder is how Adams kept all 19 of them from quitting."
Centerstage
- Recommended
"...Halcyon Theatre’s “Trickster,” written and directed by Tony Adams, is the kind of gigantic theatrical epic whose reach exceeds its grasp. Still, you can’t help but marvel at its wonderful ambition. The title refers to a mischievous god, found in many world myths, who relies on his wits to get himself in and out of trouble. This archetypal figure, personified in Native American religion as Coyote, is here played as a mostly good hearted rogue by Scott Allen Luke."
Time Out Chicago
- Somewhat Recommended
"...
When it works, Trickster creates some arresting moments. As Hajar, Middleton conveys powerful concern for her baby and longing for her lost boyfriend (he’s been conscripted into Wolf’s totalitarian army). While the first act carries a hallucinogenic vibe from its multiple, not clearly connected story lines, the play’s second half tautens as it fixes its focus on the Coyote-Wolf showdown, even if the final struggle comes off as anticlimactic. The piece’s uneasy stylistic blend of epic, improvisation and children’s theater has its charm, but it’s hard to sustain over two and a half hours. In the end, Adams seems to have buried a rousing fringe piece under a few too many layers."
Chicago Theater Beat
- Somewhat Recommended
"...Halcyon Theatre demands a lot of its audiences. This isn’t the theater of effortless escapism. Instead, Adams takes you down a dark and difficult path, demands that you pay attention and leaves you with a brain overloaded with questions of morality, philosophy and the intricate nature of the human condition."
