Chicago Tribune - Highly Recommended
"...Cornelia (Victoria Blade), the "wise woman" who provides Imogen's scheming stepmother (Lia Mortensen) with the sleeping potion, feels right in line with generations of Appalachian wild-crafters and provides a hilarious summary of offstage events. Ronald Keaton's Morgan, the kidnapper/adoptive father of Cymbeline's sons, has a rascally mountain-man aura that lends itself well to his framing role as narrator."
Daily Herald - Recommended
"...First Folio's production abounds with talent, especially in the case of the acting company. Many actors double as fine bluegrass musicians, particularly Andrew Behling on the banjo as the Queen's comically vainglorious son, Cloten, and Skyler Schrempp on the fiddle as the wily servant Pisania (a gender switch from Pisanio in Shakespeare's original)."
Northwest Indiana Times - Recommended
"...For this version of the timeless Shakespearean folk, it's been updated with a new setting circa Civil War Appalachia Mountains and includes 10 original songs featuring beautiful bluegrass melodies and a cast with a talent for talking in twangs."
Stage and Cinema - Somewhat Recommended
"...Unfortunately, despite a downhome-decent folk-music score that yields solid, homespun ballads and rousers along with the Bard's famous "dirge," it's harder to see Cymbeline as a folk rather than a fairy tale. For one thing, that requires making the estranged lovers central to the story. But in Goldberg's staging we never taste their frustrated passion or cheer for their reunion. The feelings at stake - and they can be pretty powerful as revealed in both of Chicago Shakespeare Theater's celebrated revivals of Cymbeline - seem lost in the action and subordinated to the score. What results is more a hillbilly hootenanny than a fairy tale's wishful-feeling where make-believe gets spun into gold."
ChicagoCritic - Highly Recommended
"...The outdoor setting gave depth to the Appalachian theme that propelled the genius of Shakespeare combined with the smart and clever music and lyrics by Keefe and Rice to produce an engaging and homespun adaptation of Cymbeline. With Michael Goldberg nimble free-flowing direction, Shakespeare's Cymbeline A Folk Tale With Music is a most worthy interpretation of The Bard's fairy tale. This show begs to be remounted at Chicago Shakespeare Theater. I can't think of a finer way to introduce youngsters to the wonders of bluegrass music and the sheer delights of Shakespeare than with Keefe & Rice's Cymbeline. This show is tuneful, action packed, humorous as well as adventurous and heartwarming. It is a folk tale for the ages. First Folio Theatre's Cymbeline is the hit of the summer! Get your picnic baskets full of food and drink and get to Mayslake Peasbody's Estate and to enjoy a fabulous summer treat."
Let's Play at ChicagoNow - Highly Recommended
"...First Folio Theatre's executive director David Rice took the traditional Shakespeare play and brought it to Civil War era West Virginia. The end result is a spell-binding show with ten original songs set to beautiful bluegrass tunes. The story remains a tale of family dynamics, jealousy and innocence. Moving the story to Civil War-era Appalachia gives it a more familiar feel as the details are familiar to anyone who studied American history. You don't have to be a Shakespeare fan or Civil War buff to relate to the story of parents, children and secrets."
Around The Town Chicago - Highly Recommended
"...Appalachia, Bluegrass Music, the Civil War, and Shakespeare? Absolutely! David Rice's new adaptation of Shakespeare's lesser known tragicomedy Cymbeline, being premiered by the First Folio Theater, is original, delightful, and filled with musical energy. Set in 1863 West Virginia, Rice transforms Cymbeline into a modern comedy/tragedy/parody, with music, and tells the Bard's tale in way that is decidedly rooted in American folklore. Rice and Michael Keefe (First Folio's resident composer) wrote the music and lyrics for 10 original bluegrass styled songs, which are woven beautifully into the production. The music and lyrics are a clever way to frame the story, simplify many difficult passages, and help the audience understand the many twists and turns of the complex plot."
Huffington Post - Highly Recommended
"...Perhaps the highest compliment that can be paid to a fresh interpretation of Shakespeare is that it makes you want to go back and re-read the play. This is pretty rare -- ordinarily an audience's reaction to the Bard in swimsuits is that it knows perfectly well what the play is about, and that what was on the stage wasn't it -- but it does happen in First Folio's lyrical production of Cymbeline."
