The Year of Magical Thinking presented by Remy Bumppo Theatre at Theater Wit

Chicago Reader - Recommended

"...Yeaji Kim's set is a simple winding wooden walkway, dusted with sand, curving down toward the audience, with a plain bench set upstage. It recalls the happy beach life of Didion's family during Quintana's childhood, as well as the eternal pull of the sea as a crucible of life. Heather Sparling's sparse autumnal lighting also suggests the twilight of our days, and Jeffrey Levin's sound and original music weave together birdsong, waves, and dripping water."

Around The Town Chicago - Recommended

"...Annabel Armour beautifully portrays Joan Didion in this one-woman show “The Year of Magical Thinking.” The story is about an established New York author and how her world is immediately turned upside down when her husband John dies unexpectedly, followed shortly by the death of her chronically ill daughter Quintana. Based on the book of the same name, this 100-minute running narrative (with no intermission) consists of excerpts that have been taken directly from the text and is replete with detailed autobiography and poignant reflections."

Chicago Theatre Review - Recommended

"...This has been a dark time, with war waging in Europe and the effects of Covid-19 and other illnesses looming everywhere. Death has become a constant visitor, it seems. To make matters worse, winter continues to linger on, refusing to completely go away. At a time when many of us long for some laughter and lightness, Joan Didion's dramatic adaptation of her book about grief might not be right for everyone. But her look at loss and profound sorrow, and the way it effects each of us, is presented here through the eyes of one of America's finest writers."

Chicago On Stage - Highly Recommended

"...Armour's performance is intensely introspective. From the start, she carries a "journal" containing Didion's wandering, intricate, beautiful first-person account of her thinking and the events that triggered those thoughts. She refers to it frequently as if, without directly "reading" it, she would be emotionally unable to get through this. The rest of her performance underscores this notion: she seems to move rapidly and randomly from memory to memory, occasionally getting "lost," searching for words, or doubling back on her narrative to make sure she has covered everything she wanted to."