Chicago Tribune - Somewhat Recommended
"...On opening night last Friday, the early sections of "The Madres" felt underrehearsed and tentative, which meant that the show seemed overly casual, given the traumatic nature of what everyone here is undergoing. That got much better as the evening went along - and I suspect anyone seeing this very worthy piece now will find a more secure suite of performances. It's really an illuminating play. This cautionary period of horror not only went on in the shadow of the World Cup, it was so recent."
Chicago Reader - Not Recommended
"...With the exception of some hints from Diaz, there's nothing like that here. Worse, Coll's performance on opening night was frustratingly discursive, as if she hadn't yet gotten comfortable with Josephina (or, more to the point, Josephina's lines). The effect was to slow the momentum toward act two still further. You end up wishing for an entire play worthy of this one's best ideas."
Windy City Times - Recommended
"...Walker sometime appears to favor issues over character-her ambivalence regarding Diego's zeal for his inhumane duties, for example-but under the direction of Ricardo Gutierrez, the trio of Ivonne Coll, Lorena Diaz and Ilse Zacharias endow our three generations of child-bearers making their journey from helpless terror to concerted action with the courage and dignity of classic tragedy's Trojan Women."
Time Out Chicago - Recommended
"...Until the day that history delivers us an oppressive dictatorship perpetrated entirely by women, studies in fascism will innately double as studies in misogyny. In her new play The Madres, playwright Stephanie Alison Walker makes this link explicit."
Around The Town Chicago - Highly Recommended
"...Their latest production ,In their new home, the Richard Christiansen Theater ( second floor of The Victory Gardens), is a World Premiere of Stephanie Alison Walker’s “The Madres”, a powerful story that details the problems of the Guerra Sucia ( “Dirty War” ) period of Argentina’s government during the 1970’s. This was a treacherous time for the Argentinians as people were disappearing right off the street. This “Dirty War” was waged by the Military “Junta” against its own people. This was a government “dictatorship” and people were pulled off the streets and placed in detention camps ( one might even call the concentration camps). f you were believed to be a subversive or be associated with socialism, you were no longer one that they wanted to be free. students, journalists and artists disappeared."
Chicago Theatre Review - Somewhat Recommended
"...In other words, "The Madres" has the problems that sometimes hold back world premieres - uneasy shifts in tone, inconsistent characters, slow pacing. There are dynamic moments (the second act is quite strong), but the play could use a couple more revisions to reconcile its issues."
NewCity Chicago - Highly Recommended
"...While the dialog of the first act can be occasionally stilted and some of the performances were similarly wooden as of opening night, “The Madres” is an overwhelmingly welcome work, one of the best of the year thus far. Its wrenching second half puts the talents of its ensemble fully on display as Walker arranges her own elaborate take down of impotent masculinity. And yet, what matters most here is not the pathetic frailty of a couple men but the durability of the women. “The Madres” demonstrates that women persevere, excel and conquer despite constant attempts to quell their spirit and impoverish their existence."