"It is a bit shocking how relevant 'Evening at the Talk House' is to the political times we now live in, but this is not a gathering that I would have wanted to be invited to...There are too many moments that don’t flow or that feel repetitive...And although the ending in general was not a shock, it also didn’t make much sense either. Although this 'Evening at the Talk House' kept me tuned in, I can’t say I was thoroughly engaged. This is one cocktail party that I wish I had skipped."
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“Under Scott Elliott’s smart and conscientious direction, the cast uniformly explores the depth of each character, delineates the character’s conflicts, and successfully helps to move the plot forward…Engaging theatre, although ‘Evening at the Talk House’ is not without complications...The reference to today’s political climate is obvious and deeply disturbing. This consonance with the present makes 'Talk House' an important conversation as freedoms seems to disappear daily."
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"In Shawn’s typical writing style, he later drifts into absurdist territory as his characters pose philosophical questions on who should live and who should die...Still, it’s not clear what he is trying to convey: Is 'Evening at the Talk House' about the death of theater or debating the deaths of individuals? In order to make an impact, it should be one or the other. As it stands, this is one evening that is still trying to talk its way toward an intellectual bullseye."
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"It’s one the main pleasures of the work, which can be alternately maddening, terrifying and a bit boring, that we’re never quite sure where we’re traveling – or where we’ll end up...Too much of the play is devoted to inside-baseball chatter about fictional theatrical and television figures. But every now and then, the subject abruptly changes to the geopolitical, and one sits up, pricks up one’s ears, and wonders how much of the dialogue Shawn wrote since January 20."
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"Much as Shawn's subject has a fundamental fascination...his play never seems believable enough to accept its premises...Director Scott Elliott...and his noteworthy cast do all they can to make Shawn's attempts at spontaneous language sound other than synthetic. However, the 100-minute play, a sizable, rambling chunk of it played only in candlelight, is eventually murdered by its own artificiality. 'Talk House' may have lots to talk about but it's hard to believe much of what it says."
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"'Talk House' is deliberately vague about the way the society it depicts differs from the one we currently inhabit. Yes, leaving the murdering sketchy adds to the terror–both for the characters and for us. But there are occasionally tantalizing morsels that suggest the 100-minute play might have felt more filling had Shawn cooked up some more aspects of his imagined world...Director Elliott is effective in creating an atmosphere of conventional conviviality...and then of growing dread."
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"The shadow of Orwell looms large over 'Talk House.' Only it’s a rather blurry smudge, so it’s not altogether clear what the playwright’s point is...Broderick talks; and then Shawn talks; and then everybody talks and talks. (The play runs about 100 minutes, but a long 100 minutes.) Fortunately, the cast is full of actors who know how to hold the stage—including, yes, Mr. Shawn—so they do manage to keep our attention."
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"Director Scott Elliott achieves an ambiance of casualness that conveys a clubby atmosphere of intimacy before the audience that is seated on each side of the playing area...Although the dialogue and interaction doesn’t really add up to the intellectual level that author appears to be seeking, the caliber of the acting grips our attention and makes the work seem deeper than it is."
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