Chicago Sun Times - Not Recommended
"...Adaptation is usually an act of love. The adaptor loves the original work and attempts to translate that love for new audiences and a new medium. Like a literary missionary, all they're trying to do is spread the good word. But if "Sons and Lovers" has a tidy moral lesson, it's that love can be a dangerous thing. Too often, adaptations of classic works get lost in translation; they are a testament to the author's love, but themselves fail to inspire that same love. Like Paul and Lydia, it's a love that shuts out everything else around it, including - in this case - the audience."
Chicago Reader - Somewhat Recommended
"...If what the viewer wants from this production is a Reader's Digest-style overview of the Lawrence novel, and they're willing to sit through two hours and 15 minutes of fake British accents to get it, more power to them. Those looking for depth of character, imaginative insight, and daringly brilliant adaptation will have to keep the search up."
Stage and Cinema - Recommended
"...Though not as erotic as Lawrence’s later Lady Chatterley’s Lover, this Sons and Lovers combusts whenever necessary. Borchard conveys Paul’s Oedipus-like dependence on a smothering mother who means well in the worst way. Gray is less successful at suggesting the crushing control that Lydia wields like a weapon. Still, a story this rich demands to be dramatized."
Around The Town Chicago - Somewhat Recommended
"...Often, when one adapts a classic work, those familiar with the original have a difficult time following the new and modern version. On The Spot Theatre Company is a brave, fairly new company that dares to be creative with classic works. Their current production, now on the upstairs Studio at The Greenhouse Theater Center is a U.S. Premiere of “Sons and Lovers”, based on the novel by D.H.Lawrence. which has been adapted and directed by Mike Brayndick"
WTTW - Recommended
"..."Sons and Lovers" is the chronicle of the emotional anguish and confusion that shaped Lawrence's life well into early manhood, and the two very different women with whom he had intensely troubled relationships, in no small part because of his mother's fiercely judgmental and controlling ways. His first girlfriend is Miriam Leivers (Corrie Riedl), the daughter of a nearby farm family with whom he shares intellectual and artistic interests."
Chicago Theatre Review - Somewhat Recommended
"...D.H. Lawrence's autobiographical novel seems ripe for a theatrical dramatization. It's already been adapted into a successful 1960's film, and there are two stylish BBC television serializations available on DVD. It must be remembered, however, that, although related, a play is a different medium. Mike Brayndick's cinematic production might've been more effective and powerful if he'd considered that less is often more. Some of the incidents in this 400+ page novel could easily have been omitted. A more objective director could bring a fresh view to this production. He could see the problems in the script and work with the playwright to smooth the flow of this drama. And if the staging was kept simpler, along with a more Spartan scenic design and costuming, the overall effect would probably be stronger. The way this production currently plays out makes this adaptation of D.H. Lawrence's novel feel more like a promising work in progress."
Third Coast Review - Recommended
"...The acting and Midlands accents are quite solid (Saren Nofs-Snyder is dialect coach). Dunn as father Walter nicely reflects the character's aging and physical impairments. Gray's Lydia is disappointed in her life, but displays a lovely voice when she sings the English folk song, "Long, Long Ago." Borchard is a sweetly sensitive and guarded Paul."
Picture This Post - Somewhat Recommended
"...this play will certainly have appeal for those who can’t get enough of classics on the stage. They will likely feel this to be an adequately acted period piece. The actors have the right accents down too. For many though, like this writer, the slow chords signaling the continuing scene changes perhaps will feel like a bit of an endurance test. The script, like the set, doesn’t quite stretch to the terrain one’s imagination does when reading the novel."
NewCity Chicago - Somewhat Recommended
"...Between “Sons and Lovers” and Red Tape Theatre’s “All Quiet on the Western Front,” theatrical adaptations of literature now occupy two performance spaces at Greenhouse Theater Center. That doesn’t mean, however, that dramatic adaptations of great literature are always a feasible plan. For “Sons and Lovers,” an adaptation of D.H. Lawrence’s 1913 novel, the work simply doesn’t leap from page to stage."
