In Pursuit Reviews
Chicago Reader- Recommended
"...Breahan Pautsch's new play is a lighthearted mix of social satire, farce, and murder mystery, competently staged by Hobo Junction. There's nothing new in the shots Pautsch takes at marital inequality and government bureaucracy. But Richard Paro's peppy direction keeps this comic souffle from collapsing. As a special agent, Travis Barnhart quietly performs a bit of endurance art, eating about 15 deviled eggs over the course of the one-hour show."
Windy City Times- Somewhat Recommended
"...The mostly likable characters and old-fashioned shenanigans of In Pursuit make for successful entertainment in the most general sense, but as far as planting some unique thoughts with science fiction and properly utilizing the genre's best tools to bolster the humor, the play simply never makes it that far. The shuffle of subplots and over-the-top characters is too loud to let the ideas flourish half as much as the on-stage fun does."
Centerstage- Recommended
"...In Pursuit works very well as a silly farce and even better as a gentle satire of bureaucratic systems that exist to help people but ultimately do more to perpetuate themselves. All these furry blue creatures want is the right to live as they wish and they continually encounter inhospitality and intolerance."
Time Out Chicago- Recommended
"...The funniest, most apt moments are those in which the aliens navigate bureaucracy. Though genderless, they’re asked to pick for their immigration forms. A debate ensues over which is “better,” the legitimacy of their marriage and job prestige (One, a florist, is shocked s/he doesn’t trump Two, an astrophysicist). Unfortunately, the production stalls after someone (no real spoilers here) drops dead. The situation deteriorates from reasonably silly to unconvincing, slowing its heretofore brisk pacing and never quite recovering its edge."
ChicagoCritic- Not Recommended
"...There was little comedic timing in evidence and the script was to convoluted that the cast seemed to be pushing hard to garner any possible humor. At the performance I attended, there was little laughter. Hobo Junction’s brand of humor rings flat here. The silliness and poor comedic execution played like someone scratching a blackboard with their finger nails. The style of humor (if any) escapes me. The sophomoric production need work. The 65 minutes seemed like 65 hours of torture."
Chicago Stage and Screen- Not Recommended
"...In my opinion “In Pursuit” was nothing more than a cheap rip off of NBC’s late 90’s comedy “3rd Rock from the Sun”. Except people actually enjoyed watching “3rd Rock”, but I suppose Hobo Junction is granted something for giving effort. I do want to congratulate the CTA red line for being so spot on with their train service, those guys were able to roll through about every ten minutes making them right on time. Meaning the train was the only thing that could be heard when it came through, becoming quite distracting. In the end with a ticket price of $15 for a sixty minute snore fest, I would recommend you stay home and turn on the “Sci-Fi” channel instead. It would be much cheaper and far more entertaining."
Chicago Theater Beat- Somewhat Recommended
"...By the end One and Two are together again, no more enlightened than we are by the silliness they saw. Richard Paro’s staging works overtime to keep the inconsequential action as manic as possible. Unfortunately, nothing can disguise the utter vacuity of everything on stage."