Chicago Tribune
- Somewhat Recommended
"...Frankly, there was more sexual tension on Thursday night at one of the stoplights on Green Bay Road than in the little room behind Books on Vernon in Glencoe, a tiny venue that should have been ideal for a piece that demands an intimate setting. As the adults in the piece and the main storytellers, accomplished actors John Lister and Karen Janes Woditsch have their moments and surely know how to unspool Grieg's dramatic poetry. But although LaThrop and Salt are attractive young actors, they seem to have no connection whatsoever to each other, no sense of young lovers against the world, no feeling for the dangerous sexual politics of follower and leader. They're supposed to be hot-blooded young people striking out alone for the first time, yet there is barely a flicker of illicit mutual passion."
Chicago Sun Times
- Highly Recommended
"...Salt deftly captures his character's adolescent volatility, sullenness and fear. Lister, burly, spirited and sly, is the father figure who does his work far too late. And Woditsch is especially winning in a second role, as the celebrity who is seen by everyone and yet no one. But it is LaThrop, with her luminous face, matchstick figure, easy grace and marvelous mix of the demure and daring, who steals the show. Whether swimming or dancing, beating down a brush fire, or biting into the still warm heart of a freshly eviscerated wild deer, she is wondrous to watch in this story that plays out on a stage filled only with words and raw emotion."
Chicago Reader
- Somewhat Recommended
"...Director Stuart Carden seems intent on overemphasizing the script's weaknesses, barreling noisily through nonsensical transitions. In occasional respites from the clamor, Carden's four cast members find interesting edges to their characters, though never enough to assemble a full picture. Their motivations are impenetrable in the end, leaving a story with life-or-death stakes feeling wispy and insubstantial."
Time Out Chicago
- Highly Recommended
"...Lister and Karen Janes Woditsch each portray a pair of adults encountered by Leila and Lee; Woditsch gets the short end of the stick as Lee's depressive mother and a visitor to the lodge where the kids take refuge. The latter feels like an egregious, rather ham-handed vehicle to deliver a message to Leila about her self-worth. But on the whole this is a quietly moving, skillfully immersive dual coming-of-age tale."
Stage and Cinema
- Recommended
"...There is much to admire about both script and production. I thoroughly enjoyed the theatricality of it all and the many nuances, such as when narrators took on the personalities of the character which they spoke about, but I couldn’t shake the feeling that Yellow Moon would be far less effective in any space bigger than the back of a bookstore. This is theater that belongs at a Fringe Festival; for me, the manic goings on tend to get a bit one-note, even at a 75-minute running time. This isn’t theater that delves into the souls of characters, it’s a thrill ride. Mr. Greig may be a clever ink slinger and fabulist, but the show’s device occasionally overrides the drama."
Around The Town Chicago
- Highly Recommended
"...For those of you, unfamiliar with the Writers' Theatre in Glencoe, there are two outstanding venues in this small North Shore community. There is the "main stage" on Tudor Street and then, the most intimate of spaces, located in the rear of The Books On Vernon shop. Yes, a true "storefront" theater, that in reality is a storeback theater. A small space where depite how the configure it, less than 60 seats are available for an audience, but what they do in this little space is BIG productions. Not big in size of course, but "big" in the stories they tell and the production value as a whole."
Chicagoland Theater Reviews
- Highly Recommended
"...Stuart Carden guides the production with an unfailing sureness of touch as the action fluidly moves between narration and realistic exchanges. "Yellow Moon" can be an elusive, even boring play if the acting is slack and the play's unconventional style seems affected. But Carden keeps the tension tight and still makes room for occasional humor."
