"Daniel Sullivan, the reliably fine director whose Shakespeare productions here usually have avoided self-conscious concepts, has almost made a U-turn with this disappointing staging...Here, the emphasis is somewhat deflatingly on the artifice in 'Cymbeline.' We are encouraged to recognize that we are watching a troupe of actors in performance, presenting a fictional tale...The trouble is, when the play’s strange marvels are presented inside a heavy theatrical frame, they lose some of their wonder."
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"Director Daniel Sullivan does a miraculous job of trimming up the traditional five acts to a manageable three hours. He puts two cohorts of the audience on stage and uses them as props and barriers, villains to be called out, foils for the players’ humor; he even gives them a few lines...Sullivan has an arsenal of wonderful diversions to keep us alert to the humor of the piece. There is an early surprise — a time-and musical shape-shifting number that is brilliant!"
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"Daniel Sullivan’s production provides not only a delightful evening in Central Park but also a successful argument for the play. He settles at once on a tone that can support the narrative’s oddball excursions...Sullivan has to play the final scene, with its hailstorm of absurd revelations, entirely for laughs in order to make sense of it here. In the process, it loses some of its potential emotional power. But everywhere else, that power is only heightened by an immediately identifiable genre frame...The park on an August evening begs and rewards a lighter meal."
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"'Cymbeline' makes joyous sense out of a play that even the most devoted of Shakespeareans have oft looked at askance. What makes it a 'problem' play is that the complex plot is stuffed with implausibilities that can obscure the themes of jealousy, forgiveness and reconciliation. Daniel Sullivan, the director, has gotten around this obstacle by shading his staging in the direction of knockabout farce, but doing so with the lightest and sweetest of touches."
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"One of Shakespeare’s least loved plays, 'Cymbeline' is too convoluted to sort out and too dense to follow; increasingly preposterous as the story unfolds, and yet. A production as wonderful as the one that director Daniel Sullivan has assembled in Central Park challenges us to suspend overthinking and simply to luxuriate in the charms of an off-center romantic comedy whose twin triumphs of love and forgiveness override logic, and to just enjoy the damned picnic...One very fine night in the Central Park."
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"Shakespeare’s 'Cymbeline' is such a convoluted mashup about love and war and much more that getting it even halfway right is something. The Public Theater’s al fresco take on the late, not-so-great play manages that mean feat by fighting fire with fire: Unruly play? Freewheeling approach...It makes for a breezy 90 minutes. Alas, there’s another hour and a half to go. And the show loses steam in a big way in the second act. Chalk it up to the overwrought play and conceits that wear thin."
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"The problem with director Daniel Sullivan’s fresh take on the play is that it’s neither here nor there — not outrageous enough to be funny, but not sober enough to be taken seriously...At the end of the show, the company comes together for a wonderfully witty court dance. Everyone seems to be cavorting in his or her own fashion, but their individually distinct movements are all carefully composed into a harmonious whole. At last, we see what the director wanted us to see all along in his show. But what a shame the play didn’t open with the dance."
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"Although entertaining in spots, this stylistically all-over-the-map rendition is more wearisome than enlightening...This late romance is one of the Bard's most problematic works and most difficult to successfully stage. Featuring allusions to characters and situations from many of his previous plays, it's as if he was raiding his attic in search of inspiration...By the time the lengthy evening concludes, you're likely to feel thoroughly exhausted. The play's happy ending has never felt so hard-earned."
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