“The cast is nimble, bright-eyed, and technically skilled...but their collective pleasant, amiable, and at times positively ingratiating manner seems to emanate from a different universe altogether...It's hard to focus on the words, with all the presentational stage business...‘Brecht on Brecht’ offers many pleasures, as long as you understand that occasionally its acting style is out of sync with its terrible, commanding words.”
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"Perhaps unavoidably, 'Brecht on Brecht' often comes across as a series of highly polished auditions, eliciting the hope that, say, someone will actually cast Bryan and Hamel in a full production of 'The Threepenny Opera.' But it's also a stark reminder that many of Brecht's preoccupations should still be ours."
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"The members of the cast do not trust their material...There is little need for histrionics but an overwhelming need for vocal range, rich modulation, and pristine interpretive style – all oddly missing in the performances...Overall, the young cast seems unable to identify with the depth of despair that defines the fiber of Brecht’s weltanschauung...These are dark times. The center is not holding. Perhaps this is not the time for clowning around."
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"Petosa has assembled a likable cast of four central performers...The cast’s youth and likability, however, are sometimes a detriment to the show. On occasion they minimize the incendiary call-to-arms Brecht’s words can provoke...There are moments of profound insight into Brecht’s approach to theater and the significance of science...As the periodic musical numbers reveal, the piece is at its most successful when it slows down and shines the spotlight on individual performers."
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"A monumental work...An adrenaline fueled musical ride through some of Bertolt Brecht’s most powerful observations on social and political fall out...Every fragment, poem, scene, interruption, song in this 'epic theater' piece goads us into becoming present and engaged...Petosa has injected a heightened pace into the work that feels like the surge of energy felt in a mass protest...The ensemble is riveting...They are so vibrant and insanely talented."
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“Petosa chose to present this piece as Story-Theatre-Meets-'Godspell,' with red noses, zooming shopping carts, and other cheerful accouterments. Much of this direction worked...but it didn't quite fit with the stories being told. Another problem is that some of the performers just aren't up to the high-level singing and acting required...Yet there is much here that is worthwhile...Brecht's writing is razor-sharp, insightful...And the cast does acquit itself well on many pieces."
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“An engaging yet uneven presentation...At times, the show seems overly frenetic with a false frivolity. When the cast enters and tosses their music on the floor and dons clown noses the pace of the show races unnecessarily so. Then, suddenly, the action falls as a more quiet pieces like 'Nanna's Lied/Songs About My Mother,' begin without real transition. The hyperactivity dilutes the fire of Brecht's activism."
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“The performers do not seem to be coming out of deep, radical experience. ‘Brecht On Brecht’ demands a knowledge of harsh life, his canon, as well as the ability to give oneself over completely to the discordant material...The young, well-trained cast...excel most in musicality and they are clear in voice...But the edge is largely missing. No matter the quality of the ensemble...there is a difference between the singer’s voice and an actor’s art—and adapting both...is no small challenge.”
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