Chicago Tribune - Not Recommended
"...Kersnar stages this piece with intensely realized, stylized movement, all rendered courtesy of an adroit, hard-working ensemble. But interesting as that can be (and it is well-executed), the crippling problem is that it all seems to fall in service of that which we already know. We grasp the nature of these soldiers in the first five minutes; just as do Iphy and her sidekicks. All that they do subsequent to that just emphasizes the same character traits over and over. To put that another way, a great deal of energy is expended here without the delivery of any real surprises."
Chicago Sun Times - Somewhat Recommended
"...in terms of the nauseating political propaganda of Charles Mee’s 2007 reworking of “Iphigenia in Aulis” — a play written in 408 B.C. by Euripides, the ancient Greek dramatist — the most charitable thing to be said is that it is perverse at best, grotesquely distorted at worst, and so choked by its off-the-deep-end, ultra-left thinking that it verges on the ludicrous."
Chicago Reader - Highly Recommended
"...Charles Mee's provocative 2007 adaptation melds the ancient poetry with modern texts to create an all-too-apt comment on American military adventurism in the Middle East. In David Kersnar's inventively designed, highly physical multimedia staging, a chorus of GIs comments on the principal characters' dilemmas through stylized movement and synchronized speech, bringing breathtaking urgency to the resonant tale."
Time Out Chicago - Recommended
"...Video screens are used to little effect by director David Kersnar, as is the presence of a groaningly symbolic Arab observer, who casts a mournful eye on Western excesses, and club music that pounds without purpose. One exception: The soldiers break form for a hip-hop interlude with a narrative power Euripides himself might applaud."
Chicago On the Aisle - Highly Recommended
"...Mee, who prides himself on stirring together the ideas of other writers to create his own vibrant and surprising dramatic stew, has spiced Euripides’ original play with texts by Alan Stuart-Smyth, Jim Graves, Gaby Bashan, Richard Holmes, Richard Heckler, Dave Grossman, Wilfred Own and Anthony Swofford. Yet what unfolds on the stage – certainly in this re-creation under director David Kersnar – hardly gives the impression of a pastiche. It is a concise, searing portrait of war as a maniacal obsession, the reckless indulgence of something deep in the human heart, something dark and needful."
Stage and Cinema - Highly Recommended
"... There will doubtless be spectators who will dismiss Iphigenia 2.0 as full of sound and fury, signifying very little. I found the show continuously involving and entertaining in a production that adds a gold star to the Next’s noble record of bringing edgy and stimulating plays to Chicagoland audiences."
ChicagoCritic - Recommended
"...Iphigenia 2.0 is a interesting, effective and most engaging production that vividly uses the power of the live stage to get its ant-war message across. Staging it in contemporary times reminds us that we still have not learned the lessons of leadership and the motivations for going to war. As Achilles states: “What chance can an empire have if its actions are to be based on lies and imaginings?” Mee thinks we have not learned from history."
Chicago Stage and Screen - Recommended
"...Faithful to Mee’s formulae, David Kersnar throws in highly choreographed close-order drills for the supple soldiers and break-out dance sequences between the horny warriors and the Valley Girl-style bridesmaids (the latter innocent of the imminent loss of their best friend). But, as if to sweeten the ending, Mee improbably has Iphigenia agreeing to her own execution. Her perversely anti-feminist rationale: If I can throw my life away the way the soldiers will, I will prove myself a heroine and not just a daughter."
Around The Town Chicago - Somewhat Recommended
"... The story is about morality and living lies. In the end, even Iphigenia understands that if her father goes back on his word, his power and dignity will be lost forever. This is Greek Tragedy in a new light and at least is only 80 minutes of duration. Theater is for many a diversion- a chance to get away from the real world for a period of time and this production will give you 80 minutes of that. With the hip-hop, the near strip teases, the seductive dance scene between mother-in-law and son-in-law and a lot of acrobatics, you certainly will see a different type of show."
