Los Angeles Times - Recommended
"...In keeping with O'Neill's play, the propulsive staging packs more of a visceral than an intellectual punch. "The Hairy Ape," potent despite being structurally clumsy, works on our nervous systems. O'Neill labeled it a comedy, but as this revival demonstrates, it lays an audience flat with the brute force of a modern tragedy."
LA Splash - Highly Recommended
"...The entire ensemble is incredible, embodying literally everyone from filthy coal-stokers in the bowels of a steamship to Fifth Avenue hoi polloi to trade union organizers, prisoners, brutal cops and even apes in the zoo with immense attention to detail and individualized characterizations. Everyone gets great lines and everyone makes the absolute most of what they're given, turning in terrific, distinctly different performances for each character. Even when members of this all-male cast portray women, they do it with character in mind and serve up moments that are memorable and fascinating. Every one of them is fabulous, go see Bradford Stevens, Rashaad Hall, Tony Santiago, Michael Turrentine, and Breon Arzell killing it."
ReviewPlays.com - Recommended
"...Now back on land, Yank visits the zoo. When he sees the caged gorilla, he wants to befriend him, seeing a correlation between the gorilla and himself (thinking of himself as a caged hairy ape). The entire scene and outcome between the Gorilla and Yank is extremely intense. The entire production is not an easy-watch. Percussionist Will Mahood adds to the force and emotion of some of the strong dialogue throughout the play."
On Stage Los Angeles - Recommended
"...dd to Sossi's dedication to the 'stuff' of world theatre his invitation to Steven Berkoff, to direct his own version of the 1922 play with a cast of seasoned actors? There we have something: Something important. Berkoff, now in his seventies, has a long reputation of not fooling around with his directing and has gained notoriety as a playwright, actor and teacher as well. Early on in his career he associated with Jacques LeCoq, a renowned teacher of a physical approach to acting. This physicality is abundant in Berkoff's direction of this O'Neill and the energy and dedication in the ensemble, stylized and poetic, at once enchants and brings the text to life."
Total Theater - Recommended
"...Yank pays the price for his lack of class consciousness and his rugged individualism, and ends up being bested by a true king of the jungle (to specify would be to spoil things for you). Berkoff, whose work with the Odyssey Ensemble dates back thirty years, has put his stamp on this production of The Hairy Ape. It's loud, broad and violent but never boring or humdrum."
KCRW - Somewhat Recommended
"...The more challenging question is what does "The Hairy Ape" have to tell us today. If we want to look more deeply than a period piece with a clear, almost didactic, message - where does the drama reside? Here, I came up short. The outlines of the story are so clear that I yearned for more nuance. The play has to it that tragic descent and fatalism of a Zola novel. While powerful, it falls into the category of unrelenting drama rather than thrilling drama."
Stage Raw - Somewhat Recommended
"...Nothing will, nor should, transform The Hairy Ape into a well-made play, as its flaws are so inseparable from its virtues that the feelings of intense sincerity and unrealized ambition just extract from the drama a more nakedly personal revelation, keeping us mindful of its inexorable ties to the more accomplished O'Neill, who never takes the easy way out, whether or not he manages to get where he's going."
The TVolution - Highly Recommended
"...His cast is wonderfully in sync to Berkoff's intent, especially D'Alan whose performance and physical presence harkens back to the 1930s production when Paul Robeson became the first African-American to play the title role."
On Stage and Screen - Highly Recommended
"...Odyssey Theatre Ensemble's fantastic production of this very physical play places a strong emphasis on the symbolism of the lower class as barely removed from apes. The way the ensemble moves across the stage recalls this comparison in every moment of the piece. It is understandable that labor unions found it so appealing-it shines a light on the intense, dehumanizing labor conditions of the time, and paints a very unflattering portrait of what we would now refer to as the one percent."
Peoples World - Highly Recommended
"...The Odyssey production utterly convinces that The Hairy Ape is one of the early masterworks of 20th-century American theatre. The ending is chillingly cathartic. Yet it is no period piece staged for our academic edification. It reveals truths about our society that are still very much on point. Do not miss it."
