Chicago Tribune - Recommended
"...Better yet, Douglas manages to stage some of the show's riper scenes with considerable poignancy. The accusatory death of Ezra (powerfully played by David Darlow) is rather moving, when it can easily tip into the absurd. And, in the role of the malevolent Christine, Annabel Armour comes with a pair of eyes that constantly draw you to their complicated center. Although not an obvious casting choice for Christine (Remy Bumppo remains, in essence, a repertory company where regular players are allowed to stretch), Armour reveals not so much the impassioned egomaniac but a desperate woman in crisis, staving off her own demise. It's a very valid choice."
Chicago Sun Times - Somewhat Recommended
"...while the Remy Bumppo production coolly suggests the suppression and repression at work in the family, it conjures none of the volcanic heat needed to make this story come to life. The characters live only in their heads, not their bodies. And that renders this tale of incest, adultery, murder, madness, racism and the horrors of war almost tedious. Yes, the machinations of its manipulative mother and daughter characters are sharply delineated. But the passion that drives them all to the edge barely surfaces."
Chicago Stage Review - Somewhat Recommended
"... The stylized visual presentation of the story is emotionally underwhelming but proves lovely to watch. The costume designs by Samantha C. Jones are beautiful and Tim Morrison’s minimal scenic design creates an ethereal atmospheric purgatory for the play. This Mourning Becomes Electra is not the O’Neill of explosive raw passion; on the contrary it is an attractive still life, elegantly suggesting the conflict rather than exposing its ravaging revelations."
Time Out Chicago - Highly Recommended
"... Tim Morrison’s sparse set works with the precise direction to place the focus on the acting. Douglas uses the full area of the stage to create tension through his blocking, putting space between the actors until they collide in outbursts of emotion. The Mannons are a family of predators, and they assess their prey from a distance before going in for the kill. Brennan and Armour share some electrifying scenes, both actors impressively navigating the whirlwind emotional journeys of O’Neill’s women. Their characters do awful things for the men in their lives, yet by stressing the love that fuels the hate, Douglas makes the conclusion even more tragic."
ChicagoCritic - Recommended
"...Indeed, even when the production falls short, for one reason or another, its failings are so great –so sprited –that one cannot wholly fault them for it. After all, great men’s failings are more useful than small men’s triumphs. And I may be in the minority on this –gladly –but I found much of the acting . . . just a touch off, somehow. It was somehow askew, even though I cannot exactly put my finger on how or why. The best I can describe it is: when the play seemed to ask for a stylized form of acting, the director seemed beholden to realism. Perhaps this is not exactly fair: after all, Mourning Becomes Electra is one of the first American Realist dramas. But some of the lines –a fair amount, actually, in almost everyone’s mouths –felt stilted. There was –yes, this is it –there was an artifice there that the play seemed not to call for, perhaps. And yet the emotions were so raw, so real. Indeed, even if one does not wholly agree with the direction of this piece, one cannot fault that direction for its depth of vision and its ambition. The play is an epic, and it deserves an audience."
Chicago Stage and Screen - Somewhat Recommended
"...Where this larger-than-life tragedy should have received a stylized heightening of cause and defect, several performances, especially Stangland’s unconvincingly anguished Orin, seemed curiously flat, both deflated and inflated. The veterans, like Armour’s self-destructive Christine, Sandys’ divided Brant and Darlow’s doomed but dignified Ezra, hold their own against O’Neill’s overkill. But Brennan’s scheming Lavinia seems to have escaped from Lillian Hellman’s “Little Foxes” rather than, still implacably vengeful, from ancient Greece. Lacking Aeschylus’ more-is-more intensity, oddly enough, O’Neill’s American tragedy seems oddly both muted and forced."
Let's Play at ChicagoNow - Recommended
"...The House of Mannon is an institution. The residents are trapped in ancestral dysfunction. They can’t walk away from the family. MOURNING BECOMES ELECTRA is “The Godfather” meets “Mommie Dearest” with a twist of “Girl Interrupted.” Remy Bumppo uses the right ingredients to stir up the pot on this family recipe. Sure, it could have been nuked in the microwave. But slow-cooking a stew is a much more savory choice."
Around The Town Chicago - Recommended
"...There were very few flaws in this production. I did find time to be a mystery as costumes ( Samantha C. Jones) were not changed as frequently as possible and in one scene we are at a wharf in Boston but just steps away from the Mannon estate. But, these are very minor flaws working in a small theater. The unused side of the theater was also a mystery and may have caused some confusion with audience members. Gauzy white fabric over black with some light shining through made people think that something might take place in that area. In fact, I assumed, knowing that the ghosts of all those that perish in the original come back on , thought they might just appear in that spot, but alas, not so. It was just a way to cover that seating area and put some lights in place. This play is not for everyone in that it is long, deals with plot that is not happy and has gunshots, but if you enjoy the old Greek tragedies, or if you love O’Neill’s works ( in particular this one) you will certainly enjoyEdelstein’s version and will get a feel for the future of Remy Bumppo."
Chicago Theater Beat - Somewhat Recommended
"...There’s no denying the sparks of excitement that flash from Remy Bumppo’s staging of Mourning Becomes Electra. The piece is a watershed in the history of the formidable company. For almost 15 years, the ensemble has labored under the direction of founder James Bohnen, staging productions that are as smart and intellectually provocative as they are emotionally resonant. With Mourning Becomes Electra, recently named Artistic Director Timothy Douglas ushers in a new era in the history of Remy Bumppo’s “think theater,” launching his tenure with artistry and audacity. Eugene O’Neill’s rarely staged take on Sophocles’ Orestes cycle is close to three-and-a-half-hours long and is filled with rich, complicated roles that demand actors stretching to their utmost limits."
