The Agony and the Ecstasy of Steve Jobs presented by 16th Street Theater at Berwyn Cultural Center

Chicago Reader - Somewhat Recommended

"...If only that were possible. Staged with a witty, precise touch, the new Agony is a riveting tale about an important issue. But it doesn't come clean about the controversy, explain what makes the revision "ethical," or even remove all of the disputed scenes. Daisey should just give in and call it a fiction based on fact."

Time Out Chicago - Highly Recommended

"...Baker stages and reads a revised version of Daisey’s script that obliquely acknowledges the controversy. The speaker tells us late in the piece that we don’t have to believe him, a “noted fabulist,” before citing The New York Times’s extensive reporting on the Foxconn facilities that manufacture as much as 50 percent of the world’s electronics by subjecting workers to long hours of ceaseless work. Yet the disclosure feels unnecessary by this point in the play; Baker’s uncanny but not imitative channeling of Daisey only highlights the writer’s unnerving skill at weaving parallel narratives into a compelling whole. The playwright isn’t condemning Apple exclusively but the entire electronics industry and our consumer role in refusing to question the provenance of our goods. If any audience members leave without thinking differently about the devices in our pockets, they weren’t listening honestly."

ChicagoCritic - Somewhat Recommended

"...My problem, is when you present a show as truthful, it moves from mere storytelling to documentary making the need for it to be 100% accurate. So when I find basic factual errors, I then question all the facts since I ‘m not sure when the line is broken. It sure seems that Daisey isn’t letting the facts get into the way of a good story. Where does storytelling become propaganda when an author plays fast and loose with the facts? He distorts the horrors by companies like Foxconn when he uses any exaggerations or falsehoods. This blurred line defuses the power of the story. Therefore, if you see Jobs, don’t blindly believe everything Daisey says. Artistically Lance Baker is fabulous; it’s the material that is questionable bringing into doubt the entire show. Is it propaganda or truth? Once a piece contains a falsehood, everything becomes suspect."

Around The Town Chicago - Highly Recommended

"...Their current production, "The Agony and the Ecstasy of Steve Jobs" written by Mike Daisy is to some "propaganda" and to others a tribute to the mind of genius Steve Jobs, but is reality is pure entertainment and solid story telling. Directed and starring Chicago favorite Lance Baker, this one hour and forty-five minute adventure into the world of Jobs and Apple takes us to China, Silicon Valley and to the world of "Geeks"."