Chicago Tribune
- Highly Recommended
"...What makes “The Movement You Need” so excellent is the performer’s vulnerability. An audience can intuit when a performer is taking a risk, putting everything out there and just trying to get out from under it all. Hunt clearly learned how to do all of that in Chicago and, well, look at him now."
Chicago Reader
- Highly Recommended
"...The title and much of the inspiration for Hunt’s show (directed by Ashley Rodbro) comes from the Fab Four—specifically Paul’s “Hey Jude” and the line, “the movement you need is on your shoulder.” Like Julian Lennon, for whom Paul wrote the song, Hunt is a child of divorce. And believe it or not, his childhood nickname was “Na Na,” causing him to think as a kid that the “na na na na” chorus in “Hey Jude” was especially for him. (His mother’s name was Martha, as in “Martha My Dear.”)"
Talkin Broadway
- Highly Recommended
"...In a limited engagement, Steppenwolf Theatre is presenting The Movement You Need: An Evening with Brendan Hunt. The one-man show, written and performed by Hunt and directed by Ashley Rodbro, is an exquisite piece of theatre that lands with particular poignancy on this particular Chicago stage."
Around The Town Chicago
- Highly Recommended
"...Brendan Hunt’s “The Movement You Need” opened a three-week engagement at Steppenwolf Theatre to a rousing, responsive, adoring audience. This solo spectacle was written and performed by a truly gifted storyteller. Brendan Hunt returns to his hometown and generously shares his reflections of a rough, bittersweet childhood, the solace of songs, and his uneven pursuit of growing up. In the process, there are uproarious laughs, excellent improvisation, and audience engagement that will have you appreciate deeply this actor, writer and consummate entertainer."
Chicago Theatre Review
- Highly Recommended
"...Brendan Hunt’s The Movement You Need is spectacularly funny and deeply intimate. It is an exquisite reminder that whatever the journey, the movement you need is always with you."
Buzz Center Stage
- Highly Recommended
"...Brendan Hunt’s one-man play-comedy-memoir hybrid is, from its writing to acting to production, one of the most cohesive and well-executed pieces of art I have seen in a long time. One big creative risk, the result is a show that feels less like something you watched and more like something you experienced alongside him. It’s funny, yes, and often wildly so – but it’s the emotional honesty underneath that gives it weight, turning what could have been a niche concept into something far more universal."
The Fourth Walsh
- Highly Recommended
"...Director Ashley Rodbro impressively orchestrates Hunt’s journey from submarine to Paul meet-up to son’s birth. Projected photos, videos and images connect the audience to his past. At one point, we see a high school sketch he wrote and starred in from 30+ years ago."
Third Coast Review
- Highly Recommended
"...The Movement You Need: An Evening With Brendan Hunt, directed by Ashley Rodbro, is a humorous and deeply touching dive into the life of Emmy and SAG Award winner and Chicago native Brendan Hunt—and the moments and music that shaped him. This one-man show beautifully captures just how miraculous life can be. It’s a story that will make you laugh, cry, and even hide behind your hands as you cringe at several ironically hilarious homemade videos. Raw, real, and wildly entertaining from start to finish, it never loses its grip on you."
Curtain Call Chicago
- Highly Recommended
"...Brendan Hunt’s “The Movement You Need” is more and rarer than, a one-man celebrity solo show. This is a showcase piece of theater that is personal, intimate, very funny, and deeply moving. Hunt integrates his life-long Beatles obsession (an obsession he shares with my brother who I took to the show and now talks about nothing else) with a myriad of childhood memories, family pain, and autobiographical confession. He transforms it all into a performance that is entertaining from beginning to end with a turn that is unexpectedly moving."
Splash Magazine
- Highly Recommended
"...Comedian, former Chicagoan, Emmy and Sag award winner Brendan Hunt of Ted Lasso fame, is currently starring in a solo show called The Movement You Need: An Evening with Brendan Hunt at Steppenwolf’s Downstairs Theater, 1650 N. Halsted, in a limited engagement through May 10, 2026. Hunt wrote the show, directed by Ashley Rodbro, and his performance was every bit as personal as the material. A thorough professional, blessed with the ability to present an authentic self, he projects a rueful yet prideful take on his own life history and obsession- he’s the product of divorce, alcoholism, a measure of childhood neglect, and a lifelong love affair with The Beatles."
