Chicago Tribune
- Somewhat Recommended
"...If you're looking for something of intellectual or social substance, the play keeps floating back to the situational comedic surface. If you're looking for some sort of silly southern satire, these just aren't the actors. They're too good. They've created four real, raw people. But they're not all that funny."
Chicago Sun Times
- Recommended
"...Under Michael Halberstam's punchy direction (with Josh Schmidt's hilarious musical interludes and Keith Pitts' doily-perfect set), the actors deliver sterling performances full of delicious surprises, with Scogin -- acerbic, bristling, vulnerable -- simply beyond perfect."
Chicago Reader
- Highly Recommended
"...There's lots of interesting talk about intolerance, hypocrisy, blinkered thinking, mortality, and faith. The best part, though, is the way Smith's script transcends all that and ends up being about two aging southern Catholic spinster sisters whose lives are disrupted. Michael Halberstam's production is too sweet, but Robert Scogin counteracts that nicely as a priest with unexpected depths."
Windy City Times
- Recommended
"...Director Michael Halberstam keeps everyone on track and to the point for Smith’s script. In The Savannah Disputation, Smith shows that absolutism in faith is a dangerous blade that can cut both ways, particularly when it’s used to club others of different faiths without any room for tolerance."
Gay Chicago Magazine
- Recommended
"...Given the weaknesses of the script, director Michael Halberstam delivers a tightly wound production that flows effortlessly and easefully from scene to scene. He has also assembled a stellar ensemble that works hard to flesh out the less-than-potent characters given to them, bringing vulnerability, wit and intelligence to their respective depictions."
EpochTimes
- Recommended
"...Director Michael Halberstam leads this quartet of fine actors through this script with a flair for the comic touches while allowing us to see that there are many unanswered questions and that theologians and scientists alike may not know the answers.Keith Pitts set is about as real a living room/dining area as I have ever seen. Of course in this intimate theater, one almost feels as if they will be asked to pass the salt or the remote, but you certainly get the true feeling that this is the home of these two ladies."
Time Out Chicago
- Recommended
"...the playwright, along with canny director Halberstam, knows what we’re anticipating, and defies it at nearly every turn, squaring off devotees of opposing ideals with sly exactitude. It’s never clear what Smith the writer believes about the universe, but with the credence he gives his characters—even the girl whose fundamentalism makes Catholicism seem like Scientology—it appears that Smith has spent enough time around men and women of faith not to blow them off."
ChicagoCritic
- Highly Recommended
"...You’ll laugh, you’ll be somewhat shaken, and you leave thinking about your beliefs after seeing The Savannah Disputation. This intelligent play covers eclectic themes with unique insights consistent with human nature."
Chicago Stage and Screen
- Recommended
"...The playwright Smith is known for his wildly thematic writing and employs his trademark sharpness of wit to draw a compelling portrait of the conflicts between dogma faith and the wildly variant interpretation of Biblical texts depending upon the point of view and needs of the reader. It's well worth spending the two hours of your time to see the show."
