Chicago Tribune - Somewhat Recommended
"...given the absence of the dramatic, on the harsh stage these characters find it tougher to maintain their charm than on the page. By the end of a show that needs some judicious cuts and a clearer sense of focus, you'll likely find yourself thinking that all three of these overanalyzing whiners deserve each other in some complex combination of their own choosing."
Chicago Sun Times - Highly Recommended
"...The three principal actors are impeccable in every way, but so is the supporting cast -- the delicious Ann Wakefield as Gillian's worldly wise French mother and Katie McLean, briefly stealing the show, as a brashly comic former girlfriend. Bloody good all around."
Chicago Reader - Somewhat Recommended
"...It’s always a pleasure to see a Chicago company tackle writing that crackles with multiple layers of consciousness and linguistic complexity, and Lifeline—of which Greenberg’s an ensemble member—usually has a better handle on this sort of material than most. But though Greenberg’s script is faithful to the plot essentials and the broad outlines of Barnes’s characters, too much of the excruciating confusion about how much control we have over whom we choose to love and how we hurt others is left on the cutting room floor. Too often while the characters are talking it over, I’m wondering why I should care."
Windy City Times - Recommended
"...Director Dorothy Milne is adept at drawing out the confusion, hurt and anger of her stellar actors, who pour out their hearts. There's also some fun to be had with Katie McLean as the gossipy friend Val, who has outrageous suppositions on her friends' behavior. And Ann Wakefield does a solid job of playing three different characters from a dowdy landlady to Gillian's worldly-wise French mother."
Chicago Free Press - Somewhat Recommended
"...The supporting actors are given the most to work with and they deliver the show’s true moments of pleasure. Ann Wakefield gives a roughened grace to a series of landlady characters. It is her multi-leveled, shrewdly humorous work as Gillian’s seemingly uncomplicated mother that is the most memorable, though. Katie McLean provides the evening’s loudest laughs as Val, an obnoxious friend of the gentlemen in the trio. Val is loud, proud and sure that Stuart and Oliver are in love with each other. As McLean’s Val tries to convince the audience of their homosexuality, the men bind her up and carry her out. McLean is truly winning and by evening’s end you may find yourself wishing that she had stayed and that the rest of “Talking It Over” had gone away instead."
Time Out Chicago - Somewhat Recommended
"...Lifeline has staked its popcorn-munching cachet on distilled cinematic treatments of epic-adventure lit. But whereas Family Classics–friendly yarns at least keep the endorphins spiking with their visceral acrobatics, this contemporary, conscientiously adult-themed adaption of a Julian Barnes novel struggles to find a steady pulse."
ChicagoCritic - Recommended
"...The acting is first rate with John Ferrick and Chris Hainsworth dominating. Elise Kauzlaric is subtle and eerie while Ann Wakefield as the mother and the landlady is effective. Katie McLean is a hoot as Val, Stuart’s cynically outspoken friend."
Chicago Stage and Screen - Highly Recommended
"...Talking it Over, directed by Lifeline artistic director Dorothy Milne is largely told in monologues. The characters converge at points, but what they think about their situations is far more important that what they have gotten themselves into. Set against a backdrop of painting that Gillian is forever working on, "Talking it Over" examines a group of people fighting for a comfortable place in a world they have no control over."
