Chicago Tribune - Recommended
"...Like Spike Jonze's movie "Her," "Watson Intelligence" is really probing our insecurity about the inevitable and imminent encroachment of our sponge-like digitized assistants into the world of emotional intelligence and into our bedrooms. This Watson turns out to be a pretty decent lover - why would he not be, given that Eliza has programmed him to cater to her every need, with far more attention to detail than you ever could expect from any mere man? But do we want to make love to robots? Hard to say, I suppose, since most of us have not tried that one out. But "I just want to give you what you need" (the Watson credo, now and forever) takes a bit of topping."
Windy City Times - Highly Recommended
"...As the author of Seven Homeless Mammoths Wander New England has noted before, this dilemma is nothing new, hearkening back to the myth of Pygmalion and Galatea. Revolutionary discoveries require genius, it's true, but as Tom Watson reminds us, earth-shattering deeds are rendered possible only with the help of numerous sidemen, backers, shleppers, fixers and hand-patters with identities now lost to history. Director Jeremy Wechsler has long recognized this wisdom ( the cornerstone of all communal projects, including theater itself ) and guides Joe Foust, Kristina Valada-Viars, Joe Dempsey and a legerdemanic creative staff in the lightning-transformative twists and turns of George's Big Ideas Writ Small with never a stumble or misstep."
Gapers Block - Recommended
"...Director Jeremy Wechsler's choreography enables the three actors who play multiple versions of their characters over time to move smoothly from one persona to another. But special kudos go to Joe Foust, who is so sweetly, smugly, smartly, and sometimes goofily all four versions of Watson. (His performance and dialogue as the computer Watson resetting itself is very tech-witty.) Two of them are alive: Bell's Mr. Watson and Sherlock Holmes' compatriot Dr. Watson. And two may or may not be. One Watson is a version of the IBM computer Watson; another is Joshua Watson, a member of the Dweeb Squad, who fixes computers and steals Eliza's heart. And may be a clone of another Watson. (Sorry for possible spoiler.)"
Time Out Chicago - Highly Recommended
"...If anything, George's plotting and parallels can feel aggressively intelligent themselves; the script (which George has heavily revised for Theater Wit's Chicago premiere) contains so many a-ha moments you almost want to tell it to stop trying so hard. But Jeremy Wechsler's staging, featuring an impressive set design by Joe Schermoly, sports such honest acting from Valada-Viars, Dempsey and Foust that you forgive any excesses. Emotional intelligence, indeed."
Stage and Cinema - Somewhat Recommended
"...It's more trouble than it's worth to force an overarching theme on a self-absorbed and refractory work. Ever enterprising and sporadically engaging, Jeremy Wechsler's staging showcases three talents far better than George's smugly eclectic exercise. Joe Dempsey brings sly cynicism to the materialistic Merrick. Joe Foust deftly delivers Watsons who range from hapless cyber-sincerity to aching heartbreak. (His charmingly inept Dr. Watson is the play's one comic triumph.) Finally, a lyrically conflicted Kristina Valada-Viars grounds her Elizas in a fear of feeling that's virtually our human coding and very emotionally encrypted."
ChicagoCritic - Recommended
"...Director Wechsler handles the overlapping plots with clarity, and Joe Schermoly's scenic design is full of ingenious surprises. The physical worlds slowly mingle, reflecting how George writes about them, until they come together for the climactic scenes. The problem many people seem to be having with this play is whether such a complicated style serves the story's message. The modern Eliza agonizes over why she is dissatisfied with what appears to be the perfect man. The answer is that as a genius, Eliza requires challenge, and all the Watsons can only coddle her. Alarming and infuriating as Merrick is, his and Eliza's fallibilities spur each other's innovations. But it takes a very long time for us to see what Merrick offers that Josh Watson doesn't, and even then, the technological aspect is a bit of a red herring, since a flesh-and-blood person is being compared to a dildo as much as the robots are. It took until the final scene of each storyline for me to make up an interpretation of each that I found satisfactory. Until I reached that point, I enjoyed the production, but was anxious about whether it was really leading anywhere. I can only hope other people find some meaning to assign The Watson Intelligence, as well."
Chicago Theatre Review - Highly Recommended
"...This delightful play is definitely for the thinking theatergoer. No light entertainment here, we have a canny, crafty, cerebral exercise being played out in a series of captivating, interrelated scenes, told by characters who may or may not be extensions of one another. Sharply delineated portrayals, crisp, snappy dialogue and exuberant direction bring Madeleine George’s play to life, in a wonderful follow-up to Theater Wit’s thought-provoking “Mr. Burns.” Launching their new season, this production is more than a promising nudge in the right direction."
Chicagoland Theater Reviews - Highly Recommended
"...Theater Wit, in its relatively brief existence, has become the go-to venue for edgy contemporary plays. Their stagings of "Mr. Burns" and "Bad Jews" (still playing at the Royal George Theatre) are high risk/high reward endeavors. The Watson play, with its perfect cast and spot-on staging, gives Chicagoland audiences still another opportunity to stretch their theatrical muscles."
