Chicago Tribune - Somewhat Recommended
"...despite some amusing performances, you don't feel a lot here for anyone, nor sense some great clash of ideas. In terms of style, the conceit does not go far enough in any one direction, landing in a stylistic middle where the show does not always reside with certitude. Moreover, Murray does not solve one of this play's most difficult challenges: the need to sustain the credibility of a long second-act stretch when everyone is being held at gunpoint."
Chicago Reader - Highly Recommended
"...Today Sherwood's political allegory—celebrating and skewering America's fetish with individualism—is about as subtle as a pistol whip to the head. But in Shade Murray's slick, darkly comic noir production, that's part of the fun. Murray and company give a stylistic nod to Hollywood's golden era, adding a sense of tribute to all the cheeky suspense."
Windy City Times - Recommended
"...The kind of marathon stamina demanded by American Realism is not easy for young actors, accustomed to far shorter sprints, to bring off, but the myth of the romantic desperado is not only an inextricable component of western literature, but our nation's history as well—and therein lies the reason for this genre's enduring popularity. Jamie Vann and Paul Fagen grasp the parallels between the homicidal Mantee and the suicidal Squire, as do Caroline Neff, Walter Brody, Janice O'Neil and Shane Kenyon in their portrayals of familiar archetypes given fresh urgency by the eerie similarities of their motives to those faced by disgruntled citizens today. Wherever you find your dramatic tensions, it makes for gripping storytelling."
Centerstage - Recommended
"...Shade Murray’s direction keeps the large and talented cast moving, and the set and costume design does wonders in transporting us to 1930s Arizona. The production is a good balance between Sherwood’s idealism, the serious drama playing out among the characters, and the little touches of absurdity (like the old man who is genuinely excited to have murderers back in town, just like in the good old days). Still, the play is too slight and the themes too muddled to amount to more than a pleasing entertainment. But sometimes that’s all we need in the waning days of winter."
Time Out Chicago - Recommended
"...These choices all intrigue, but they rest uneasily together. We want to devour the play as a wildly theatrical experiment in mounting a Western on a storefront stage. We also want to experience it emotionally. But the production vacillates between style and seriousness, never quite settling anywhere. It compels, but it doesn’t stick."
Chicago On the Aisle - Highly Recommended
"... While it isn’t hard to see how tough guy Mantee might be star stuff, Sherwood’s play is not essentially a confrontation between the killer –who shows up with his motley gang – and the world-weary intellectual. Squier’s confrontation is with himself, and with an improbable angel of mercy called Gabby, the flinty daughter of the diner’s owner, a girl given to direct speech liberally seasoned with salt. The beauty of Strawdog’s production lies in the fine match of Paul Fagen’s sensitive but spiritually exhausted Squier and Caroline Neff’s brusque, restive and eager Gabby."
ChicagoCritic - Recommended
"... The shootout at the end was nicely played in puregangster style. The Petrified Forest is more than simply a gangster play- it is also a political allegory that becomes a portrait of the desires and frustrationsofthe Depression Era. Many of the dilemmasdramatizedhere still ring relevant today. The ensemble work here is winning; the show is most engaging and worthy in the best style of StrawdogTheatre."
Chicago Stage and Screen - Highly Recommended
"... Searching for a justification for the inevitability of extinction, are we all just looking for the right thing to die for? Is survival just a gambit we employ until we find the right exit strategy? Sherwood makes this melodramatic dilemma a real matter of life and death. Happily, if the dialogue sometimes lurches between the rapturous and hard-boiled, Shade Murray’s sure-fire touch keeps it real. Re-discovering an American treasure, Strawdog Theatre Company's revival, a labor of love by 17 dedicated players, shows a casting as distinctive as Sherwood's supple speeches."
Let's Play at ChicagoNow - Recommended
"...The story is interesting. The dialogue is a little dated. It bodes of a simpler time when people spoke of love, honor, and America with conviction. Because of the hefty soliloquies, the material could have become cartoonish. Under Murray’s respectful direction, it stays true to another era. PETRIFIED FOREST is a sincere look into America’s past. It’s a contemplation on the good old days that weren’t always good for the people living through it."