References to Salvador Dali Make Me Hot at National Pastime Theater

Chicago Tribune - Not Recommended

"...Rivera's script has some striking points to make about the tensions between the home front and the front lines. How can a man like Benito, who has seen and done unimaginable things for his country, easily slip back into the role of loving husband to his unfulfilled wife? But it gets swallowed up by the tricky acoustics and gloomy lighting (the latter created by Joe Loffing) in this production, and the actors seem unsure of how to deliver Rivera's imagery-laden language in a way that makes the underlying sensual and emotional urgency cut through the fog of symbolism."

Windy City Times - Recommended

"...The inevitable problems associated with a company moving into a larger space are immediately apparent (does anyone recall Chicago Shakespeare's first show at Navy Pier?), chiefly the actors' struggle to establish connections over distances designed to showcase the room's opera-house dimensions. Through no fault of Keely Haddad-Null's direction or her ensemble's capabilities, we find ourselves attending more to the downstage activities of the animal totems—garbed in little more than Gary Shirmer's body paint, frolicking to the music of Michael O'Toole's Moon—than to the performances of Virginia Marie, Nelson Rodriguez and Ernesto Melchor, Jr.; the unfamiliar environment cannot help but overwhelm their impressive accomplishments."

Stage and Cinema - Somewhat Recommended

"...Director Haddad-Null’s direction is staggeringly odd. There are moments that are exceptionally interesting, as when the moon fiddles atop Gabriella’s refrigerator as the two make love for the first time upon Benito’s return. But there are bits where its hard to see what she was thinking. First, the spacing of what is and what is not the apartment is entirely unclear, as when Benito sits on a bed and says, “This kitchen is a mess!” There’s also a moment when he’s about 10 feet away from Gabriella, but references the smell of her deodorant. This may in part be due to Melissa Schlesinger’s very cool, but too-large and jumbled set, parts of which seemed wholly unnecessary: yes, they talk about cacti, but did we need to see one? Still, Haddad-Null could definitely do something far more interesting with what she is given, and doesn’t utilize the space she has very effectively. Furthermore, she fails to make this cast cohesive, but considering the quality of some of the performances, that seems as though it would be a lot to ask."