Scorched Reviews
/ by Guest UserEffectively presented through multiple time frames and nonlinear action, the plot unspools like a curse that spares neither innocents nor killers. The audience itself seems caught in the crossfire that detonates Dale Heinen’s Chicago premiere until detachment becomes impossible.
Read More[Theatre’s] strong suit is its ability to evoke empathy. A well told story can bring home the plights of vastly different people and circumstances. And that’s where Scorched succeeds.
Read MoreScorched is that rare play that truly manages to convey the spirit of Greek tragedy in a contemporary setting. That's exceedingly hard to achieve... Here, that Sophoclean sense of everything coming together, that paradoxical enigma of how the harder and harder you try to climb out of the muck, the deeper and deeper you sink in the swamp. All that somehow feels logical in this world, where your childhood gets stuck in your throat for life.
Read MoreThe production values of Scorched are excellent. Tom Burch creates a stylized authenticity with his impressive scenic design. Dialect Coach Eva Breneman beautifully supports the uncanny rendering of Lebanese accents. Projection Designer Mike Tutaj stunningly enhances the conception of the show with haunting imagery.
Read MoreScorched is one of those rare plays that successfully crosses over into multiple genres, from historical fiction to family drama to mystery. If you want to see a great story beautifully told, see this show.
Read MoreWhile the topic of “Civil war” is essential to the play, this is not really a “war story” but rather an exploration of some of the results of war, as well as a love story that is difficult to comprehend at first, but once you view this masterpiece of theater, you will see that this type of thing may not be fiction at all.
Read More[Mouawad’s] laserlike vision and heated language, combined with the actors’ prowess and the very handsome design work [...] result in genuine “scorched earth” theater.
Read More[Playwright Wajdi Mouawad's] poetic flourishes (rendered from the French by prolific translator Linda Gaboriau) are compelling, and his themes build to a climax that’s gut-wrenching—even to those paying attention to his Greek allusions.
Read More[The] twisting tales [the script] tells are important and compelling. And the superb Chicago premiere production, directed by Dale Heinen, succeeds completely. The first-rate ensemble totally invest themselves in their multiple roles, while a crack design team transforms the intimate, low-ceilinged basement theater into a convincing replica of a desert village.
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