The Brig Reviews

Chicago Tribune - Highly Recommended

"...Perhaps the most chilling aspect of Brown's play - written before the My Lai Massacre, to say nothing of Abu Ghraib - is its suggestion of how these men are trained to turn that resentment outward to other nameless victims. "I'm a drinking man, a stabbing man, a killing man for Uncle Sam" they chant in unison. Markowitz's pinpoint-precise direction and the physical torments required of the actors do not allow us to look away from our own complicity in accepting such brutal excesses as the necessary price for maintaining our own "unit cohesion" as a nation."

Chicago Reader - Highly Recommended

"...Wisely, director Jennifer Markowitz does nothing to make her Mary-Arrchie production enjoyable. Her actors endure an hour of exhausting physical drills while we watch from various uncomfortable locations. As movement theater, it's grotesquely beautiful; as a glimpse into the darkest recesses of male psychology, it's sickening."

Centerstage - Recommended

"...The glaring light, level of noise and proximity to the prisoners creates discomfort for the audience during this S&M display of punishment by obedience. While not an experience everyone will relish, Jennifer Markowitz’s production will certainly affect audiences with this up-close assault on the human condition."

Stage and Cinema - Somewhat Recommended

"...The Brig provides no context to its cruelty, no "before" or "after" to lives we see crushed into servility. It's exasperatingly open-ended and half-baked, leaving it to the literally captive audience to see it as an anti-army protest play, a metaphor for capitalist conformity, aerobics for actors (these guys will be muscular marvels by the end of the run), or an empty exercise in sadomasochistic overkill. Though an amazing showcase for the stamina of the inexhaustible actors who perform it, it offers no answers - which would be more pardonable if it at least raised some questions. You'll be happier to leave this brig than you'll be to endure it."

ChicagoCritic - Somewhat Recommended

"...While The Brig is a glimpse into a day in the life of a soldier in prison, it is also a harsh indictment of military discipline that destroyed many in the post war period. The screaming and extreme cruelty makes you happy when your 55 minutes of torture are over. You leave quite impressed with the dedication and work ethic of the cast, especially the prisoners. Semper fi to all those Marines who served!"

Let's Play at ChicagoNow - Highly Recommended

"...THE BRIG is an unrivaled virtual reality. The ensemble exhausts themselves in the synchronized physicality of their roles. They are in great shape and we get to see it all. There is full frontal nudity x 8. At the risk of further objectifying these men, I'll just end with ooh-la-la."