From Time Out Chicago's review:
"Landau’s production is visually ambitious, if not terribly cohesive. Scenic designer Takeshi Kata strips the stage to bare walls; in this blank space, he deploys an ever-moving array of sheets and masts that suggest the nautical world while serving as canvases for Stephan Mazurek’s bizarrely inconsistent projections. His choices range from subtle and gorgeous, as with the simulated rush of water that accompanies Miranda’s first encounter with Ferdinand, to a jarring sequence illustrating Ariel’s recounting of the shipwreck that unaccountably recalls the video-art aesthetic of the 1980s.
Mazurek’s projections are part of Landau’s kitchen-sink visual approach. The spirit Ariel (Jon Michael Hill) races down zip lines for no particular reason; he’s shadowed by a trio of lesser spirits who, similarly, perform aerial rope tricks in the background just for the heck of it. The director’s tendency for excess is certainly indulged.
But there’s enough cleverness in Landau’s bulging bag of tricks—from James Schuette’s playful costumes to an entrancing original score by Josh Schmidt—to cut through the chaos. And her smartest choice is making astoundingly good use of the company’s ensemble. Terrific supporting performances by the likes of K. Todd Freeman as the slave Caliban, Yasen Peyankov as doltish drunk Stephano and, most inspired, Lois Smith as wizened royal adviser Gonzalo enliven the far-strewn subplots.
As Prospero, Frank Galati is a presence less raging than calming, the eye at the center of the storm. The force of nature here is athletic, electric Hill, whose Ariel confidently guides the action. The uniformly exceptional cast elevates Landau’s sometimes-messy extravagance above insubstantial pageant."
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