Chicago Reader - Not Recommended
"...Whatever the case, the dialogue is packed with murky symbolism and heightened, affected language about salmon. The latter plays like a parody of Words-worth or Thoreau. The former involves a mysterious scarlet dress and, perhaps, the fish themselves. None of it—not the identities of the women or the freighted symbolism—matters because the script goes nowhere. There is only fishing and talking about fishing and two interchangeable women stuck in a script that absolutely flunks the Bechdel test. The cabin is adequately rendered by set designer Eric Luchen. The all-important prop fish calls to mind those mounted trout that sing "Happy Birthday." That's worth a laugh. Which is about all you'll get out of The River. "
Windy City Times - Recommended
"...There is solid acting here from all three cast members, and Boho's production of The River is true to the playwright's language in all of its design aspects as well. Director Jerrell L. Henderson maintains a rich kind of enhanced melancholy throughout the play, aided nicely by Eric Luchen's stark cabin that would not be out of place in any scary story you've ever heard, Kaili Story's moody lighting, Eric Backus' sound design, which ranges from realistic ( crickets ) to ominous in various scenes, and a ground fog that rolls in at specific moments."
Stage and Cinema - Recommended
"...Lino, Gorman, and Carter fully commit themselves to their three mutable personae. Coyly suggesting so much déjà vu, they’re slippery souls, what with their shape-shifting stories and unfinished business. Nothing is fixed in this sly and ultimately immersive one-act. It may well be dreamed differently by each observer and that’s praise enough for the play."
Chicago Theatre Review - Recommended
"...In Jez Butterworth’s modest, moody one-act psychodrama, a much-anticipated followup to his successful longer play, “Jerusalem,” there’s a constantly changing atmosphere, much like a river. Like the water in a stream, the play is never the same. There’s nothing concrete. Just when you think you understand where this story is headed, it shifts and changes. Every audience member will leave the theatre with a different opinion as to what this enigmatic play is about. Understand that, throughout this production, the audience won’t be trying, like The Man, to hook the elusive sea trout. They’ll be fishing for clues in an attempt to grab hold of something tangible to take away after the final curtain."
Third Coast Review - Recommended
"...The River is a strange, mystifying play but enigmas can make provocative theater. The best reason to seeThe River is to listen to Butterworth’s lyrical language, whether it’s the Man’s description of catching his first fish at age 7 or the poetry of the sea trout run or the Woman describing her walk along the upper road in the dark."
PicksInSix - Recommended
"...Henderson has assembled a fine cast. Lino’s youthful, ruddy enthusiasm alternates between endearing and diabolical, which plays well with the sizzling essence of confidence that Gorman infuses into her role. Carter, meanwhile, brings a wholesome sensitivity and balance to the Other Woman."
