Chicago Tribune - Recommended
"...Director Jessica Thebus' production clips along nicely and offers a great showcase for two hugely talented actors who I think will have a bright future in the theater, Lee and Real de Asua. Both are charming, warm as toast and thoroughly alive and in the moment. Add in Penny Slusher as Mrs. Hughes, I mean Mrs. Reynolds, and charming work from Walker, Sottile and Latimore (Mobley has a tough assignment), and you get a lovely accompaniment to, say, shopping at the nearby Old Orchard mall, or a good hearty dinner with old friends in a new world."
Chicago Sun Times - Highly Recommended
"...A delicious bonbon of a play, “The Wickhams: Christmas at Pemberley,” should come in a box wrapped in a bow with a holiday card on top."
Daily Herald - Recommended
"...Jane Austen fans have cause for celebration this season. And it comes courtesy of Northlight Theatre, whose premiere of "The Wickhams: Christmas at Pemberley" is a pleasant alternative to the misers and nutcrackers dominating area stages this time of year."
Chicago Reader - Somewhat Recommended
"...The cast is grand. The script creaks with contrivance and artifice. Lydia's sister Elizabeth Darcy (Netta Walker) contacts an officer in George's distant army regiment and receives a lengthy, plot-resolving missive within roughly 48 hours. It's a horse-and-carriage-era problem, resolved at the speed of e-mail. Moreover, while George is the ostensible villain, Darcy (Luigi Sottile) is the kind of privileged jerk who insists his servants are "family" even though he treats them like servants. That's a problem never resolved here. But Melcon and Gunderson are going for sparkle, not veracity. In that, they succeed."
Let's Play at ChicagoNow - Recommended
"...Northlight Theatre welcomes us back to the Regency-era romance with a world premiere of The Wickhams: Christmas at Pemberley, a companion to Pride and Prejudice, inspired by Miss Bennet adapted by Lauren Gunderson & Margot Melcon. The 2016-2017 Season at Northlight was all about the sequel Miss Bennet: Christmas at Pemberly, where the party took place upstairs. The production was a grandeur success, winning them The Jeff Award."
Around The Town Chicago - Recommended
"...Those of you who might have seen “Miss Bennet: Christmas at Pemberley”, we now have a companion play, “The Wickhams : Christmas at Pemberley”, sort of the “Hallmark” classic Christmas tales at Northlight Theatre. Written by Lauren Gunderson and Margot Melcon and smoothly directed by Jessica Thebus, this is a sweet little play that brings us back to the same place, with some of the same characters and yet, a different holiday of events."
WTTW - Highly Recommended
"...No offense to the enduring delights of Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol,” but those in search of an alternative to Ebenezer Scrooge and his ghostly visitors, and the goose and pudding served up at the Cratchit family dinner, are strongly advised to stock up on orange biscuits and head to Northlight Theatre instead. That is where you will find “The Wickhams: Christmas at Pemberley,” the second (in a planned trilogy) of wonderfully sophisticated, utterly beguiling riffs on Jane Austen’s “Pride and Prejudice,” co-authored by Lauren Gunderson and Margot Melcon."
Chicago Theatre Review - Highly Recommended
"...Literary fans of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice, and particularly theatergoers who enjoyed Northlight's captivating and highly entertaining "Miss Bennet: Christmas at Pemberley," will adore this second installment of what promises to be a trilogy. Playwrighting duo Lauren Gunderson and Margot Melcon once again transport us back to Regency England in this clever and charming comic drama. Recalling what was happening upstairs with Miss Bennet, this time around we get a peek at the busy downstairs dramas of the great house. Brought to life by a splendid cast, guided by a director who knows precisely how to make the holidays light and fun, Northlight Theatre offers another wonderful opportunity to spend Christmas at Pemberley."
Chicagoland Theater Reviews - Highly Recommended
"...“The Wickhams” doesn’t try to simply get by on its Austen connections. Gunderson and Melcon have co-written a first-rate play that can hold the stage on its own merits. Austen zealots, of course, will make the Northlight show a mandatory stop, but audiences uninitiated in the Austen holies will still have a great time."
Chicago Theater and Arts - Highly Recommended
"...Co-written by playwrights Lauren Gunderson ("Book of Will") and Margot Mekon (former Marin Theatre New Play Development Director) Jane Austen fans will recognize some of the characters, their foibles and charm, as inspired by Pride & Prejudice."
Chicago On Stage - Recommended
"...Slipping back into the world of Jane Austen for a brand new experience is as easy as meeting an old friend at a new cafe: you feel at once completely familiar and a bit excited for new discoveries. And with Northlight Theatre's world premiere of Lauren Gunderson and Margot Malcon's The Wickhams: Christmas at Pemberley, their second of three planned sequels to Austen's classic Pride and Prejudice, that feeling is multiplied. Under the seasoned direction of Jessica Thebus, Northlight's production is smooth and, well, comfortable. (That may also have to do with William Boles' impressive set design and Christine A. Binder's lights.)"
NewCity Chicago - Highly Recommended
"..."The Wickhams: Christmas at Pemberley" is a perfect show to put you in the holiday spirit without pouring eggnog down your throat. The light-hearted portrayals and collective laughter are the bow on top of this well-conceived production. Heart-warming without relying on a "feel-good" formula, "The Wickhams" is a merrymaking journey into what truly makes us the happiest every holiday season: friends, family and mouth-watering cookies."
