"Mr. Chivu makes a stronger case for 'Rooming-House' than for 'Recluse'...The performance [of 'Recluse'] feels superficial, and never finds a cohesive tone. It becomes a curiosity to sit through on the way to the second play, which is the evening’s real pleasure...It’s pointed, poignant, uproarious. From Williams, it seems, there are treasures to be plundered still."
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"These plays give any Williams fan plenty to think about. Each piece is a coherent, if bizarre, piece of work...Required viewing for Williams scholars and fans...The director, Cosmin Chivu, honors the tone of each piece and his cast does surprisingly well under the circumstances...Provides a powerful insight into a writer bent on pursuing his muse in the face of frailty, addiction, and the erosions of time. If the artistry was diminished, the bravery behind it remained constant."
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"Director Cosmin Chivu is no stranger to lifting lesser-known Williams plays out of obscurity and not only dusting them off, but polishing them to a high gleam. Here, however, the effort falls short, and even the accomplished cast of experienced Equity actors seems befuddled by the text...Really, both works are raw and visceral and unpolished, so much so that the plays are of likely interest mainly to scholars, die-hard Williams aficionados, and curiosity-seekers."
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"Both plays in this double bill are unified by their cynicism and their dark view of the world. While the plays may not be to everyone’s taste, the double casting of the two demonstrates remarkable versatility on the part of the talented cast, which is at times uneven...Cosmin Chivu’s production is not always successful, but it gives Kate Skinner a tour de force in two remarkable contrasting roles in which she reveals tremendous range."
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"The good news is that both plays have been beautifully directed by Romanian-born Cosmin Chivu...More importantly, a very fine ensemble of actors have been led by a imaginative director with a distinct and penetrating vision. If both plays are also packed with the metaphors and symbols that reveal the by then drug-and-alcohol-besotted Williams at his most absurdist, they can also be seen as two of his more subconsciously revelatory."
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"'Recluse' feels more like an elaborate sketch…'The Remarkable Rooming-House' is the play to come for. It’s dirty, provocative, and feels like a guilty pleasure…These plays are admittedly sparse...They feel like ideas of larger plays…Director Cosmin Chivu does right by the everyday poetry of the language by leaning away from it, placing the words firmly and confidently in the actors’ vernacular rather than allowing too much indulgence."
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"Each play is a dark, absurdist black comedy voicing the motifs that thread through Williams’ body of work...Director Cosmin Chivu has the honor being the first to interpret 'Recluse' for the stage, and he’s cut to the heart of the fable, exposing themes of truth, conformity, hypocrisy and mortality with clarity...'Le Monde' is a brutal work that deals with sexually predatory women...Chivu directs with heightened action, highlighting the perverse burlesque, apocalyptic thrust of the play."
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"The merits of Skinner’s acting lie largely in the jarring range she displays between the two characters she inhabits, and the rest of the cast does a fine job of embracing the humanity in roles wherein it is tricky to do so. The director shows a clear adeptness with the material and paces things nicely...The Playhouse Theatre Company warrants sincere praise for turning the spotlight on a neglected phase of an American master’s career and providing a fuller picture of Williams’s art."
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