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Scorched Reviews
Chicago Tribune - Highly Recommended
"...For “Scorched” is that rare play that truly manages to convey the spirit of Greek tragedy in a contemporary setting. That's exceedingly hard to achieve. Theaters are littered with pretentious failures — the lean and incendiary emotions of what Aristotle called complex classical tragedy invariably jar with the more trivial feelings that pass for disasters in our modern-day dramatic worlds."
Chicago Sun Times - Highly Recommended
"...Under the strong direction of Dale Heinen, the three actresses who portray Nawal — particularly the altogether riveting Simonzadeh — are superb, even if they are physically quite different. But it is the lean, young, snakily sexy Adam Poss as Nihad —a nihilistic sniper and camera-wielding pornographer of wartime violence — who gets to deliver the virtuosic rock ’n’ roll-infused monologue that stops the show and so shatteringly encapsulates the insane spiral of assault and retribution at work."
Chicago Reader - Highly Recommended
"...Though Mouawad's occasionally preachy script goes on a bit too long, the twisting tales it tells are important and compelling. And the superb Chicago premiere production, directed by Dale Heinen, succeeds completely. The first-rate ensemble totally invest themselves in their multiple roles, while a crack design team transforms the intimate, low-ceilinged basement theater into a convincing replica of a desert village. Scorched marks Silk Road Theatre Project as a force in Chicago theater."
Centerstage - Recommended
"...Playwright Wajdi Mouawad's "Scorched" is a complex, disturbing family drama that portrays the effects of war echoing down the generations. The play's complicated structure unfolds quietly and effectively in Silk Road's compelling production."
Chicago Stage Review - Highly Recommended
"...The production values of Scorched are excellent. Tom Burch creates a stylized authenticity with his impressive scenic design. Dialect Coach Eva Breneman beautifully supports the uncanny rendering of Lebanese accents. Projection Designer Mike Tutaj stunningly enhances the conception of the show with haunting imagery."
Time Out Chicago - Recommended
"... The playwright skips back and forth between Janine and Simon’s quests and flashbacks showing the secret history of Nawal (masterfully played at different ages by Rinska M. Carrasco, Carolyn Hoerdemann and Diana Simonzadeh), who turns out to have kept much from her children. Director Heinen, with artful help from lighting designer Sarah Hughey, keeps these transitions seamless. Scorched feels slightly overstuffed at three long hours; Mouawad digresses too often, and some plot flourishes feel egregious. But his poetic flourishes (rendered from the French by prolific translator Linda Gaboriau) are compelling, and his themes build to a climax that’s gut-wrenching—even to those paying attention to his Greek allusions."
ChicagoCritic - Somewhat Recommended
"...As theatre, Scorched contains several strong performances. Diana Simonzadeh as Old Nawal, Fredric Stone as Lebel and Justin James Farley in several roles were particularly effective. Scorched is well acted yet it is a tad too long especially act one where it takes too long to get going. Scorched is worth the journey if you can get past the thin and questionable motivations."
Chicago Stage and Screen - Highly Recommended
"...It’s hard to imagine a more urgent or appropriate work for Silk Road Theatre Project to produce or perform than this award-winning, aptly named “Scorched.” For a theater dedicated to exploring dramas by playwrights of Asian, Middle Eastern and Mediterranean backgrounds, this engrossing work by Lebanese-Canadian playwright Wajdi Mouawad equals a mission statement."
Around The Town Chicago - Highly Recommended
"...While this is a play that deals with war and the results of power struggles, it is in fact a marvelous love story, with great depth and a powerful cast under the brilliant leadership of director Dale Heinen, a young director who truly shows vision and soul in the way she brings this story to the stage. As we watch the two siblings search for answers to the puzzle, the mystery that their mother has woven, we get to watch flashbacks of the years in which their mother was young and in love. The mother is played by three enchanting actresses, who although different in appearance, all seem to “get” who she was and what her needs were. Young Nawal is played by Rinska M. Carrasco, Middle by the powerful Caolyn Hoerdemann and Old by the glorious Diana Simonzadeh. All three of these women shine in bringing this character to life, but be prepared, you might want to bring a tissue or two for the final scenes played to perfection by Ms Simonzadeh."