Chicago Tribune
- Somewhat Recommended
"... In Damon Kiely's uneven production of a difficult play, that long first scene almost torpedoes the entire show. The problem is that the scene is played so broadly. Engstrom — who is, the title would suggest, playing a supporting character — offers up an emotionally wrought, wildly needy, physically failing character with nary a shade of irony or self-awareness. Engstrom is a formidable actress in the right role. But she's miscast here, and, frankly, her jumpy Suzanna is so tense and neurotic, it upstages Becky Shaw herself, who seems positively benign by comparison (and you don't get why gentle Andrew would ever marry her). It's hard to fathom why this first scene is so over-the-top and set apart: You keep thinking you're watching a play within a play, a la "The Real Thing," and that someone will pop up and yell "cut" and reveal that the characters are actually actors. But no. The same issues afflict Monts-Bologna, who initially has an extravagant, Southern-style characterization that puts one in mind of an overripe Tennessee Williams matriarch."
Chicago Sun Times
- Recommended
"... With echoes of those ancient Greek family sagas, daytime soaps, and a bit of both Tracy Letts and Jonathan Franzen, “Becky Shaw” might just tempt you to reach for a big roll of duct tape that would enable you to tape the lips of its smart but wildly neurotic personalities. But of course then you’d miss the bursts of knife-edged repartee and some razor-sharp performances in this production by A Red Orchid Theatre, directed by Damon Kiely."
Chicago Reader
- Somewhat Recommended
"...Disowned by her family for dating black men, Gina Gionfriddo's white title character fixates on violent, racist fantasies. She's also convinced that the rich, emotionally stunted banker who fucked her on a bad blind date is her last romantic hope and can be blackmailed into marrying her. The banker, meanwhile, is in love with the married daughter of his adoptive parents. Gionfriddo packs these promising stories, and a couple more, into this 2009 Pulitzer finalist."
Windy City Times
- Somewhat Recommended
"...This is enough interpersonal dynamic to fuel a half-dozen plays, but Gionfriddo appears undecided as to which one she wanted to write. On one level, our story is a screwball tragedy in the Beth Henley mode. On another, it's an exploration of self-styled victims and their enablers, and on a third, a portrait of a psychological parasite preying on the credulously co-dependent. Under Damon Kiely's likewise ambivalent direction, a cast of Red Orchid stalwarts, led by the redoubtable Lance Baker and Jennifer Engstrom, endow their nebulous personae with great gobs of panache, but cannot rescue a premise that promises more than it ultimately delivers."
Time Out Chicago
- Somewhat Recommended
"... Frustratingly, none of that comes about until after intermission. The long, languid opening scene takes place a year earlier, establishing both the sort-of-sibling relationship between Susanna and Max and the newly tightened financial straits of Susanna and her firebrand mother, Susan (the terrific Susan Monts-Bologna). For all the amusement of Gionfriddo’s zinging one-liners and the fully inhabited characterizations by the fine ensemble, few of their actions seem credible. Worse, it’s never clear in Damon Kiely’s production what, exactly, is the point."
Chicago Stage and Screen
- Recommended
"...Gionfriddo’s ugly character clashes sizzle with cutting zingers, social skewering, deflating put-downs, and Achilles-heel infighting. There’s a kind of cruel relief in watching characters say out loud the nasty stuff that in real life we’d only dare to think. Baker in particular turns Max into a vicious master of passive-aggressive hostility. That’s the voyeuristic fascination with which “Becky Shaw” rewards us for putting up with its excessive exposition and frustrating plot."
Let's Play at ChicagoNow
- Recommended
"... Playwright Gina Gionfriddo penned a hilarious dissection of love. All kinds of love… romantic, obsessive, maternal, unhealthy. Flawed characters wonderfully define and redefine *love.* It’s a twisted script with ‘little pockets of joy to get through.’ The dialogue crackles with offense. Leading the mockery, Lance Baker (Max) delivers unfiltered discourse. His insensitivity is rewarded by the audience’s continued laughter. The reaction follows his lines so closely, it sounds like a comedy sitcom laugh-track. Mierka Girten (Becky Shaw) is perfectly quirky. Girten looks normal but her intensity is madcap bizarre. The chemistry between Baker and Girten weirdly engages for its train-wreck quality."
Around The Town Chicago
- Recommended
"... A Red Orchid Theatre, that small intimate theater on Wells Street is known for taking on plays that are gripping and fearless in the small space located at 1531 N. Wells. The intimacy of the venue truly allows the audience to see and feel exactly what the playwright and director want them to see and feel. Their current production, “Becky Shaw”, a Chicago Premiere, written by Gina Gionfriddo, is just what the doctor ordered. This story is one that searches into the basic human feeling and our emotions when dealing with relationships. Directed by Damon Kiely on a cleverly designed set by Stephen H. Carmody) we are taken on a curious ride with the five characters."
Chicago Theater Beat
- Highly Recommended
"... It falls to Susanna’s mother, Susan, to make the case for unwavering loyalty to the love of one’s life. She does so in a fashion that’s wholly consistent with the “epic Faulknerian dysfunction” that characterizes the rest of the players. Bologna turns in a pile-driving performance, as an intractable, unflappable and entirely unreasonable matriarchal force whose capacity for love and bullying seem limitless. And for all Susan’s maddening ingratitude and irrational attitude, she’s got a few things to teach the younger generation about the nature of love and commitment. In her, Ginofriddo brings a whole new meaning to the phrase “tough love.”"
