Mother Night

“This riveting story has been superbly adapted and directed by Brian Katz. It features a talented cast that brings Vonnegut's intense tale of romance, deception, and Anti-Semitism to the stage...This riveting drama has many twists and turns...The company masters each of their roles maintaining the drama and suspense of the story..It exposes the horrors of war, treachery, and racism that have devastating effects on individuals. The story also poses ethical questions." Full Review

"Credit Katz and cast with succeeding in presenting a fascinating work in this adaptation...The drama is not only involving, but may make you want to read the novel...Vonnegut doesn’t just examine a life. He positions his characters to give meaning to what he devises dramatically...The staging is an intimate work, well-performed and directed and reminding us anew of what a creative force Vonnegut was." Full Review

"Less entertaining than it is a challenge. However, it is impossible not to relate the perplexing story of Howard W. Campbell Jr. to the moral divisiveness in our country today...Grilli carries the largely narrative play, revealing Campbell's charm and persuasiveness. His likability and sympathy are easy to see when he interacts with other characters...Brian Katz's adaptation and direction of the play is a provocative portrait of a man who can be good or evil or both." Full Review

"It’s a pleasant introduction to the writer...Katz’s adaptation can’t really substitute for the novel or as a credible meal in itself...Katz’s production conveys the various episodes without seeming too disjointed...Although the script is packed with incidents, the production doesn’t really catch fire as a thrilling piece of theater...Although the eccentric characters are always welcome, Grilli’s Campbell feels bland as an Everyman manipulated by others. His story at times seems just to plod." Full Review

"Mr. Katz’s accomplished script tackles the difficult source material that’s structured as narrated flashbacks with overall success. Katz’s staging while working on a small-scale is technically resourceful but with limited theatricality. Sluggishness pervades and most crucially the show falters with its performances...Crammed with incidents and characters and merrily imparting Vonnegut’s distinctive sensibility, this incarnation of 'Mother Night' is worthy but underwhelming." Full Review

"It's a mostly faithful, heavily expository, ploddingly undramatic version…While there's a lot here that makes 'Mother Night' reflective of today's aggravated political and social concerns-think Russian espionage, white nationalism, racial hatred and anti-Semitism, hatred of foreigners, and media manipulation-relevance alone is insufficient to maintain dramatic interest…A more concise, verbally trimmed, and dramatically sharpened script would have helped, just as would a better production." Full Review

"The show desperately needs to be trimmed down as it painfully drags on. There is too much exposition, though the narrated flashbacks work. Katz’s direction is clever for this small space and he uses it well. The cast is highly uneven in their performances...Ms. Lindstrom and Ms. Gallo succeed the best with their roles, but the characters are not fleshed out enough for us to care." Full Review

“The book is a dicey proposition for the theatre. Brian Katz's adaptation struggles to master a story that jumps around in time, out of order, in fragmented fashion; even if a hugely disproportionate amount of the evening is given over to static narration, Vonnegut's singular comic voice eludes translation...Katz also directed, and his slow-moving production lacks distinguished performances." Full Review

“Although Katz’s stage adaptation...is faithful to the novel, it cannot remove the difficulties of the original text...But the difficulty...is not the adequate adaptation, but the glaring inability of the cast to consistently deliver believable and authentic performances...The cast oddly deliver performances that portray their characters as flat or as less than interesting caricatures...One wishes the performances and direction could have been more kind to the adaptation.” Full Review