Ophelia Reviews
Stage and Cinema- Recommended
"...Acclaimed playwright, director, and actor Stefan Marks has outdone himself taking on three roles in his World Premiere play Ophelia, now at the Odyssey Theatre through May 18. It’s a tale of family history, the journey to find love, the heartbreak of dementia, struggling to forgive yourself for past mistakes, and learning to move on despite the trials and tribulations faced every day that are seemingly out of your own control."
LA Splash- Recommended
"...Written and directed by award-winning playwright Stefan Marks, OPHELIA makes its world premiere at the Odyssey Theatre in 2024. Marks creates a tale of tragedy, laughter, love, dementia, blood spatter, time travel, and broken lives in this existential dramedy. Besides all that, he also acts in his own three person play."
Stage Scene LA- Highly Recommended
"...Award-winning writer-director-actor-designer Stefan Marks is back, and wearing all four hats at once, with Ophelia, his latest blend of theatrical magic, whimsy, and profundity."
Stage Raw- Not Recommended
"...Ophelia, a visiting production at the Odyssey, seems focused on engendering deep thoughts about the nature of time and the evanescence of human relationships. What its rambling stream-of-consciousness plot actually inspires is a sense of frustration, as we struggle to parse the meaning — if any — behind the randomness."
Larchmont Buzz- Recommended
"...Ophelia delicately balances the abstract with the real emotional growth of its characters, leaving questions about time open to interpretation, but never murky. The “reset device” is underused, introducing more questions than it resolves, especially when the same time-bending effect is already at play due to Mom’s dementia. Repeated scenes are nicely contrasted with each other, though they occasionally go on too long– this particularly true of the last scene, which achieved closure several minutes before its eventual end."
Broadway World- Recommended
"...Ophelia may not be a play you’ll love. But you will want to talk about it the whole car ride home. Whether you can decode the existential jigsaw puzzle depends on how long you want to try. (On a personal note: it all reminds me of my English major past, when the class would debate about symbolism and foreshadowing for hours as if there was one right answer. There never is one right answer though, is there?)"