Chicago Tribune - Recommended
"...Milne's staging keeps the action moving crisply for the most part, with fine supporting turns in a variety of ensemble roles from Sean Sinitski, Katie McLean Hainsworth and Kate Hildreth. Enriquez (who does have expressive, if not diabolical, eyebrows) manages the not-so-easy task of making a stiff-necked man also seem capable of romantic fire, even if it's temporarily banked. And Newcomb is largely delightful as the paradoxical Phoebe, who is both outspoken (particularly on the page) and shy (especially in social settings)."
Chicago Reader - Somewhat Recommended
"...The effect of Alan Donahue's whimsical set, alongside other nods to games and toys, is to cast the the courtship of society novelist Phoebe Marlow (talented Samantha Newcomb) at the hands of rakish Sylvester, Duke of Salford (Andres Enriquez), as a strange kind of game with odd rules and sudden twists. But with two hours and 20 minutes' worth of Sylvester shunning Phoebe, then courting her again, then shunning her again, then courting her again, the initial charms of the conceit dull away fast."
Windy City Times - Highly Recommended
"...Layering motifs associated with Panto ( Ddid I mention the roller skates, the scooters or the exercise-ball horses? ) onto an already giddy scenario runs the risk of dividing our attention to a degree more overwhelming than amusing. Under the direction of Dorothy Milne and the dialect instruction of Carrie Hardin, a cast of exuberant newcomers and stalwart regulars keep the action sprinting apace at brisk and merry velocity and the repartee likewise nimble. Samantha Newcomb and Andres Enriquez make an exemplary pair of reluctant sweethearts, and Kristina Loy and Wesley Scott an equally buffoonish pair of antagonists, with Kate Hildreth, Sean Sinitski, Terry Bell and Katie McLean Hainsworth in multiple roles contributing to the hijinks ( which may include a lone audience member pressed into service for a cameo line-reading )."
Time Out Chicago - Recommended
"...The primary issue with the play is that the busyness of its concept kind of overwhelms the production. There is very little flow within the dozens of scenes soldered together; there’s no rhythm, and too much dead air. There’s even a hint of tentativeness from the actors, a lack of confidence that keeps them from fully committing and saps the play’s vitality. It should be about five to ten minutes shorter than it is—not because anything needs to be cut, but because it needs more energy. Love might indeed be a game, but Sylvester can feel too much like a scrimmage."
Around The Town Chicago - Recommended
"...Back in the day, I read and enjoyed all of Georgette Heyer's historical novels set in Regency England. In fact, I still have many of them on my shelf including "Sylvester, or the Wicked Uncle". I was charmed by "Sylvester", Christina Calvit's delightful adaptation for Lifeline Theatre, places the ups and downs of a Regency courtship into a game of "Chutes and Ladders", complete with hazard cards."
Chicago Theatre Review - Highly Recommended
"...In Dorothy Milne’s imaging of Christina Calveit’s sprightly adaptation the whole of the plot is played across a giant board of snakes and ladders, to mirror the characters standings in stature. It sounds like the gimmickiest gimmick of all the gimmicks but it works. Less the hight differences than the stack of giant monopoly cards that serves as humorous under narrative."
Picture This Post - Highly Recommended
"...Her latest offering, Sylvester, or The Wicked Uncle, uses the conceit of a game of Snakes and Ladders (better known by its variant, Chutes and Ladders) to represent the social jockeying of its characters and their moral decisions. It’s a source of endless amusement that complements Calvit’s character-driven storyline and provides director Dorothy Milne with a dynamic way of staging action scenes that would be hard to do realistically."
NewCity Chicago - Highly Recommended
"...Calvit’s frequent collaborator and Lifeline artistic director Dorothy Milne invites an ensemble of eight actors essaying many different roles to play a theatrical game of Chutes and Ladders, with the understanding that one cannot win the game of life and love without first spinning the wheel of chance. And play they do, changing in and out of costume designer Rachel Sypniewski’s quick-change clothes, climbing up the ladders and whizzing down the slides of Alan Donahue’s brilliantly whimsical set and somehow landing every moment on a beat."