Chicago Tribune - Recommended
"... If you're of the view that adults getting together with family for the festive season usually behave like children, then Alan Ayckbourn's "Season Greetings" will offer a few confirmatory laughs. Herein, an extended family of middle-class Brits get together for some quality time together over Christmas and Boxing Day, only for things to devolve into a farcical mix of adolescent husbands, authoritarian seniors, neurotic singles and at least one tipsy married woman behaving very, very badly under the Christmas tree."
Chicago Sun Times - Recommended
"... To play out this household farce in which human behavior goes thoroughly amok, director BJ Jones has assembled an A-list cast and each of the nine actors is in full throttle throughout. The toxic mix of revelers here includes Belinda (Heidi Kettenring), the beautiful, perfectionist wife and mother starved for the attention of her husband, Neville (Matt Schwader), a successful businessman who spends all his time tinkering with mechanical things; and Neville’s older, mentally disturbed, equally sex-starved and accident-prone sister, Phyllis (Amy Carle), who is married to the painfully devoted Bernard (Francis Guinan), a second-rate doctor whose annual puppet shows are his passion and everyone else’s tribulation."
Daily Herald - Recommended
"...Yet for all its silliness, Jones' production offers moments of genuine emotion. In fact, “Season's Greetings” transitions quite nimbly from comedy to tragedy. Case in point, the spectacular failure of Bernard's retelling of “Three Little Pigs” that occupies most of the second act and concludes with the erstwhile puppeteer confronting his own mediocrity. Kettenring also deserves mention for her savvy turn as a wife trying to convince herself that her marriage still amounts to something."
Chicago Reader - Highly Recommended
"...Director B.J. Jones gracefully negotiates the tight twists and turns of Alan Ayckbourn's sly, dark holiday comedy. Led by Rob Riley as the half-mad patriarch and Francis Guinan as his eccentric, ineffectual son-in-law, the cast realize each member of a dysfunctional, middle-class British family with virtuosic skill."
Time Out Chicago - Recommended
"... There are no children in Ayckbourn’s play, but the adults are plenty immature by themselves. Neville (Matt Schwader) ignores wife Belinda’s (Heidi Kettenring) personal revelations because he’s focused on a toy, gun-obsessed uncle Harvey (Rob Riley) can’t be budged from in front of the TV, and incompetent doctor/husband Bernard (Francis Guinan) throws a temper tantrum when his puppet show doesn’t go as tediously planned. Bernard’s puppet show is the comic and emotional highlight of the production, the moment when director BJ Jones strikes the ideal balance of psychological depth and farcical humor. Guinan performs Bernard’s “Three Little Pigs” with passion and commitment, and his dedication to the material creates an honest foundation for his ensuing breakdown."
ChicagoCritic - Somewhat Recommended
"... with a terrific cast – especially Rob Riley, Francis Guinan, Ginger Lee McDermott and Steve Haggard -Season’s Greeting has enough funny moments to be mildly entertaining. For those who like British humor, this show will be a holiday treat."
Around The Town Chicago - Recommended
"... All of us know that the holiday season is one of stress in our lives; the shopping, the preparations and of course getting together with the family. In Ayckbourn’s Bunker Family ( not to be confused with Archie,Edith,Gloria and The “meathead”) we have a group of family members that, for the most part dread and hate the getting together for the Christmas Holiday.In typical English comedy style, under the clever direction of B.J.Jones on a masterful set by Keith Pitts, we have a group of characters who are brilliantly played by an ensemble of Chicago actors that one must agree, are some of the very best."
Chicago Theater Beat - Recommended
"... Season’s Greetings is entertaining but not in a Hollywood-holiday-classic-way. The ending isn’t sentimental resolution. It’s realistic and mundane. Until the theatre goes black, there is uncertainty that the show has actually concluded. There is no Christmas miracle. Life returns to normal following the holiday respite. Seeing Season’s Greetings will be relatable to your own family drama and reinforce a gunless and puppet-less holiday."
