Chicago Tribune - Highly Recommended
"...Cole's decision to use an ensemble of six black men for all the roles in O'Neill's Expressionist one-act play doubtless made those parallels easier for me to see. Cole also interpolates a few subtle call-outs to contemporary racial justice issues. At one point, as Yank is hauled off by the cops, a bystander cries "He can't breathe" - a reference to the choking death of Eric Garner at the hands of police. For the most part, Cole's production works so well because it walks a smart balancing line between the O'Neill original and his own original vision."
Chicago Reader - Somewhat Recommended
"...The enterprise is helped considerably by a gripping performance from Julian Parker, whose Yank is equal parts pathos, youthful exuberance, and feverish rage. The only trouble is Cole's intrusive production design, which is so loaded with atmospheric effects (echoing voices, clanking pipes, eerie lighting) that it's easy to miss the text."
Stage and Cinema - Highly Recommended
"...Another incendiary offering from Oracle Productions, Monty Cole's bold take on Eugene O'Neill's The Hairy Ape is pugilistic and powerful. In his athletic tour-de-force, a vibrant sextet stomp, leap, clamber, dangle, and swing like the title from stage-wide scaffolding. For all its force and fury, this latest Ape never forfeits its total take on O'Neill's protest play from 1922. Ever new, this brutal expressionistic drama incarnates America's persecuted poor, specifically the modern worker as a freak whose wretched worth is to build our cities for unfair pay, then disappear. Here it's performed-if that's not too weak a word-on Eleanor Kahn's daunting set, a combination of gymnastic apparatus, jungle gym, and scenic outlook."
ChicagoCritic - Highly Recommended
"...The use of an all-black male cast both emphasizes the O’Neill’s critique of class by pointing out its performative nature, while acknowledging that gender, color, and class prejudice are all interwoven. Tickets for Oracle’s The Hairy Ape are hard to come by for a reason; the show brings out the best of a master American playwright for today’s Chicago. But members of Oracle’s sponsor group are guaranteed seats, and this show provides more incentive for theatre fans to join."
The Fourth Walsh - Highly Recommended
"...THE HAIRY APE is a powerhouse adaptation. Cole dusts off O’Neill’s play and gives it a contemporary spin. The thought-provoking results are relevant to today. Black lives matter! Whether it’s the Irish in the past, African Americans in the present or a new group of immigrants in the future, economic inequality needs to be addressed. By understanding the plight and pride of the poor, we can work toward resolution."
Third Coast Review - Recommended
"...Oracle Productions' new play, The Hairy Ape, was one of Eugene O'Neill's early works, written in 1922. It's written in an expressionistic-rather than linear-style, which makes it suitable for director Monty Cole's powerfully dark and physical production."
NewCity Chicago - Somewhat Recommended
"...Despite levying criticisms at both sides of the capitalist/socialist divide, Eugene O’Neill’s 1922 play “The Hairy Ape” teems with Marxist zeal. One wonders what O’Neill’s anti-hero Yank would think of a presidential election cycle where a self-declared democratic socialist is challenging the advancing plutocratic influence in America. Oracle Theatre’s new interpretation folds in race with O’Neill’s classist concerns. In doing so, the production shines a spotlight on glaring fissures in the landscape of equality while inadvertently illuminating some gaps in its own beliefs."
