Chicago Tribune
- Recommended
"...Now this rich, sprawling and heartfelt drama arrives at Northlight Theatre, in a co-production with Chicago's Theatre Wit, with opening night taking place just three days after antisemitic graffiti was found on (and quickly removed from) the campus of Northwestern University, basically down the road. Northlight is even preparing to move back to Evanston, the hometown of many of its subscribers. So there I was again, marveling at Harmon's timeliness, even though his play is about a family of French jews madly in love with Paris, even when the City of Lights does not love them back."
Chicago Sun Times
- Highly Recommended
"...Directed by Jeremy Wechsler (in a co-production between Northlight and Theater Wit) with an acute eye for the contextual scope of centuries of Jewish history, ?Prayer? is centered on a French Jewish family whose roots in Paris date back centuries. Set in Paris, the scenes fluctuate between 1944-1946 and 2016-2017. (The title comes in the form of an ancient prayer woven into the dialogue and recited with both reverence and power.)"
Chicago Reader
- Highly Recommended
"...Yet as this three-hour, three-act, completely engrossing play unfolds at Northlight (a coproduction with Theater Wit staged by Wit artistic director Jeremy Wechsler), what struck me wasn't the timeliness, but the evergreen nature of the struggles faced by the Salomons, a family of Parisian Jews shown in two timelines. Those struggles are rooted in millennia of anti-Semitism, leading to the diaspora and slaughter of Jewish people."
Windy City Times
- Highly Recommended
"...That Prayer for the French Republic feels like it breezes by is a major credit to Harmon?s skilled plot construction. But director Wechsler?s strong cast also all deserve kudos for enlivening the fine drama and copious amounts of comedy in Harmon?s layered script."
Let's Play Theatrical Reviews
- Highly Recommended
"...Director Jeremy Wechsler brought together a remarkably talented ensemble to navigate three hours of deeply affecting, captivating, and touching dialogue. The cast?featuring the skilled performances of Lawrence Grimm, who also narrated the play, Rom Barkhorder, Nathan Becker, Rae Gray, Torrey Hanson, Henson Keys, Kathy Scambiatterra, Max Stewart, Alex Weisman, Maya Lou Hlava, and one of my favorite actors, Janet Ulrich Brooks?powerfully illuminates the struggles and heart-wrenching experiences faced by Jewish families during this harrowing period, which culminated in the unspeakable tragedy of the Holocaust."
Around The Town Chicago
- Highly Recommended
"...When is the right time to leave a country that you and your ancestors have known and loved? and where your ancestors have lived for centuries? This is the underlying theme behind ?Prayer for the French Republic?, a co-production between Northlight Theatre and Theater Wit and a play that is ?spot-on? for these uncertain times. Jeremy Wechsler?s splendid direction neatly captures a story that is sad yet funny and smart; he strikes just the right balance in creating a believable family situation that neatly combines personal history with current events together with a compelling presentation of historical events as they affect French Jewry."
Buzz Center Stage
- Recommended
"...Playwright Hartman then jumps through time artfully, with a vignette of 1944 as an earlier generation of Salomons weathers the Vichy government?s persecution of Jews under Hitler?s dominion. Adolphe and Irma Salomon (Torrey Hanson and Kathy Scambiaterra) are the perfect odd couple, whose sons Lucien (Alex Weisman) and Young Pierre) have fled without warning. Adolphe and Irma themselves are spared by a sympathetic policeman, and they suffer the war physically unscathed, selling pianos now to German Nazis, though beset by angst of the welfare of their sons."
Third Coast Review
- Highly Recommended
"...Set against a dual background of Paris in the 2010s and the last years of the Second World War, the play interweaves two timelines to explore the Jewish experience in France and the larger world. Harmon's narrative juxtaposes the two settings to tell the story of the Salomon family, Parisian Jews who manage to survive?though luck and some courage?and now must face what's next for their family. Under the direction of Theater Wit's Jeremy Wechsler, the ensemble cast's portrayal of a family grappling with their historical and contemporary challenges is, by turns, both heart-wrenching and inspiring."
Evanston Roundtable
- Highly Recommended
"...Northlight Theatre and Theatre Wit's co-production of Prayer for the French Republic, the 2022 play by Joshua Harmon, provides a timely and contemporary message with a timeless and historical perspective, all the while being entertaining and poignant."
BroadwayWorld
- Highly Recommended
"...Joshua Harmon's sprawling and ambitious PRAYER FOR THE FRENCH REPUBLIC is a searing and inquisitive look at contemporary Judaism and anti-Semitism. Harmon's play spans multiple generations of the Salomon family, French Jews grappling with questions of safety and Jewish identity. The action alternates between the mid-2010s and the 1940s."
NewCity Chicago
- Highly Recommended
"...This is also a very solid ensemble with exceptional performances put in by Janet Ulrich Brooks (as Marcelle) and Lawrence Grimm, whose periodic narration throughout the performance provides critical insight into family events as well as the history of the Jewish people in France."
