Chicago Tribune - Not Recommended
"...Alas, the resultant show, premiering at Writers Theatre in Glencoe, is a jumbled and confounding clunker. To put it bluntly, very little of what appeared on stage at Friday night’s opening felt even remotely truthful."
Chicago Sun Times - Highly Recommended
"...Right down to the wigs (bottle blonde curls for The Mistress, sculptural brunette helmet for The Wife), Burgess’ 100-minute play directed by Jo Bonney starts off by making you believe it’s a basic madonna vs. whore smackdown. The stereotypes couldn’t be more glaring, but the dialogue is so smart and so empathetically acted by Fry and Drinkall, you can almost overlook the fact that the show’s foundation appears to be comprised of stale tropes older than the Old Testament."
Daily Herald - Highly Recommended
"...Moreover, the crafty playwright anticipated comparisons between her "Wife" and Miller's "Death" and heads them off with a wry bit of dialogue that reminds audiences that "Wife of a Salesman" is not about Willy or Miller. It's about the women, whose story you only think you know."
Chicago Reader - Somewhat Recommended
"...What Burgess is after is nothing less than a disquisition on the false dichotomies that hem in women onstage and off. And if the play can't fully deliver on all the premises it promises, it's still a heady, funny, and pointed portrait of two women determined to talk things over, even if societal expectations tell them that's not an interesting or valid choice"
Chicago On the Aisle - Recommended
"...Here's the setup: It's the 1950s and this blonde number is relaxing in her modest apartment, dressed in pink pajamas and listening to her favorite soap opera on the radio. I'll cut through some details here. There's a knock at the door. The blonde (Amanda Drinkall) opens it to find a notably frumpy middle-aged woman (Kate Fry) carrying a suitcase. She represents herself as a vendor of cloth materials. The blonde lets her in, but the jig is soon up and the sparring - only verbal at first - begins."
Stage and Cinema - Recommended
"...Director Jo Bonney uses her two stars well, allowing the many stimulating talking points to emerge with clarity and urgency. Courtney O'Neill's set nicely evokes the Mistress's gaudy taste, enhanced by Rae Watson's properties design. Raquel Adorno's costumes perfectly evoke the contrasting personalities of the Wife and the Mistress. Christopher M. LaPorte is the sound designer and Heather Gilbert designed the lighting."
Let's Play at ChicagoNow - Highly Recommended
"...The wife of a Salesman cast features one of my favorite actors, the incomparable Kate Fry. Adding Kate Fry in any theatrical play is a lock for an outstanding performance. Fry, who always masters any role she plays, does another phenomenal performance as The Wife, a docile and desperate woman seeking to save her marriage and family, supporting her husband even though he treats her poorly and ignores her opinions."
Around The Town Chicago - Recommended
"...his is a brilliant work that takes us to a place we have never dared visit. It is definitely a women's play, having these two women, , the wife ( handled to perfection by Kate Fry) and the Mistress (deftly handled by Amanda Drinkall) confront each other, talk about the losses in their lives as well as the loves. We watch them turn from mortal enemies to friends and at the end, well you'll see for yourself."
Chicago Theatre Review - Highly Recommended
"...Eleanor Burgess has written another exciting play proving that she wasn’t a one-shot wonder. It’s a terrific followup to “The Niceties,” which was presented at Writers Theatre before the Covid shutdown. This time her drama is having its World Premiere in Glencoe, so Chicagoans will be the first to enjoy it. The play is both an entertaining one-act, with a clever twist, and also a drama that addresses serious issues about women’s equality and choice. Two of Chicago’s finest, most accomplished actresses star in this two-hander. The production is brilliantly guided by Jo Bonney, an artist who really knows her craft and has her own vast resume of great directorial achievements. All of these terrific talents collaborate to give audiences another polished, much-welcome production at Writers Theatre."
Buzznews.net - Highly Recommended
"...Playwright Eleanor Burgess has delivered one of the best scripts I've read or seen, in ‘Wife of a Salesman.’ While it may be viewed somewhat as a “prequel” to Arthur Miller’s 1949 classic ‘Death of a Salesman,’ it never directly references that play, and is an intriguing and challenging work of art that is an instant classic. Its world premier, running through April 3 at Writers Theatre in Glencoe, IL, is a theatrical event of the first order."
Chicago On Stage - Highly Recommended
"...From the moment you walk into Writers Theatre and see Courtney O'Neill's very feminine set (a sloping, curved clamshell with few rigid lines and lots of pink), you know instinctively that this is going to be a play focusing on women. (Of course, the title Wife of a Salesman might have tipped you off.) In fact, with the author, the director, and almost all of the main designers being women, this may be one of the most female-shaped plays ever. And that's pretty much the point: playwright Eleanor Burgess' new play, directed by the talented Jo Bonney, is not so much an homage or even a sequel to the Arthur Miller play its title evokes as it is a biting commentary on the way that so many classic writers treat their female characters as archetypes instead of people using them to define the males who are the leads."
PicksInSix - Highly Recommended
"...Depending on your familiarity with Arthur Miller's "Death of a Salesman," you might benefit from a quick plot summary before taking on Eleanor Burgess's "Wife of a Salesman," a world premiere production that opened Friday night at Writers Theatre in Glencoe presented in association with Milwaukee Repertory Theater. That said, without giving anything away, all you really need to know going into the acclaimed director Jo Bonney's brilliantly cast and tantalizing debut at Writers is that Willy Loman was unfaithful to Linda, his loving and trustworthy wife."
Theatrely - Recommended
"...Roughly halfway through the play, a surprise plot twists breaks the fourth wall and brings the action hurtling into the present day. While the details will not be spoiled further here, this transition shifts the conversation toward current issues that women face in the workplace, in relationships, and in broader society. While this bold move by the playwright requires the audience to buckle in for the ride, the two timelines layer on top of each other to create a powerful impact. Ultimately, the play's effect is ambiguous; it echoes the despair of Miller's classic but offers some tenuous hope."
Splash Magazine - Highly Recommended
"...Wife of a Salesman is the rare play with something intelligent to say about gender. The nature of womanhood is discussed in all its messy glory, with plenty of humor and plenty of gravitas. The play is remarkable, thought-provoking, and surprising, and the strength of the acting and design combine with the whip-smart text to create something truly worthwhile. Wife of a Salesman at Writers Theatre comes highly recommended."
