Los Angeles Times - Recommended
"...Director Simon Levy has assembled an extraordinary cast in his exquisitely well-realized production, which also features impressive design elements, particularly Jeff McLaughlin's scruffy apartment set."
LA Weekly - Recommended
"...The ongoing confusion and despair on both actors' faces provides this production's focus, under Simon Levy's direction, while the doll, Emily and their attendant issues are exotic contrivances to probe Kelly's pathology. The performances are top-tier."
Stage and Cinema - Somewhat Recommended
"...This Fountain Theatre outing is strongly character-driven – and that's good, because the plot is strangely inert, while the writing, top heavy with languid monologues aspiring for inclusion in an acting school monologue text, is a little sluggish. However, it's to Levy's credit that the characters are as sympathetic as they are, given the intrinsic oddness of their setting. As brittle, often hatefully self-loathing Kelly, Strapp still manages to showcase unexpected layers of vulnerability, even though we don't buy the supposedly growing affection between her and Carey's quite lovely, grieving Emily. This is probably a play that would benefit from another round of editing and refocusing, to tone up the pacing and rev up the logical underpinnings of the relationships – but there's certainly no need to throw out the baby doll with the bathwater."
LA Splash - Recommended
"...The fabulous acting was played with emotion and pathos, and the story kept the viewer engrossed and guessing for the whole hour and half."
Stage Scene LA - Recommended
"...I'll leave it for you to decide how best to describe the gripping theatrical experience that an expert team of L.A. talents has brought to electrifying life at the Fountain."
ArtsBeatLA - Not Recommended
"...Worse yet - the playwright's sense of humor is in decidedly poor taste. All his attempts at comedy feel limp. Daizy running around sporting a giant phallus (the prosthetic items he makes are custom-ordered and realistic-looking dildos) is not, in and of itself, hilarious, yet we see that lame sight gag in more than one scene. Daizy pretending to rape a baby doll is definitely not amusing. Sure, it illustrates he's gross and immature but that really crosses a line into offensive territory. The actors give decent performances of their dislikable characters but they are let down by the material. Simon Levy directs. This production is billed as a "darkly funny psychological thriller" and an "edgy comedy/drama" and I consider that pitch entirely misleading."
ArtsInLA - Not Recommended
"...The Fountain spectator expecting any of that investigation will be disappointed, because the way Reborning proves to "be about reborning" is hokey, melodramatic, and lacking in believable dialogue or behavior. It's as if Dohrn, having heard tell of this phenomenon, decided to just toss it up onto the stage with a modicum of research under his belt, in hopes that something would resonate. It does not, nor does it convince."
Advice To The Players - Somewhat Recommended
"...Too bad. Creepy premises are not a bad point of departure for drama. If you do not believe the reborning thing is real, there is even an ad for one of these artists in the program. With perfectly cast actors in a meticulous production like this, the story could add up to a great evening in the theater. Instead "Reborning" struck me as falling short. It feels like it has been trimmed to fit the needs of a TV drama."
Total Theater - Recommended
"...Reborning works well as a psychological study thanks to Dorhn's tough-minded, insightful writing (which also has many blackly comic moments). But above all, the play benefits from the expert contributions of its three actors; not only do they work well together, but they give three-dimensional life to characters who could easily have come off as grotesques."
Culture Spot LA - Recommended
"...The chance to immerse oneself into a strange new world comes with some frequency in cinema, where filmmakers can and do take you virtually anywhere. But dramatic plays tend to explore the inner spaces of emotion and memory - and being human, this is more familiar terrain. Combining the best of both traditions, Zayd Dohrn's drama "Reborning" (in its L.A. premiere at the Fountain Theatre) does indeed introduce us to a strange new world - at least new to me - while offering disturbing glimpses into lacerated psyches. The result is unforgettable."
LifeInLA - Recommended
"...Award-winning director Simon Levy, takes the audience on a roller coaster of emotions with this incredibly talented cast."
Night Tinted Glasses - Recommended
"...Director Simon Levy chose a fine cast for this deeply individual drama which delves into such powerful material."
Cynthia Citron - Somewhat Recommended
"...Expertly directed by the Fountain's Simon Levy, and well acted by the three-person cast, the play, unfortunately, doesn't live up to its initial promise. It's uneven, and draggy in spots, and even though it is billed as a comedy/drama, there isn't much to laugh at."
Broadway World - Recommended
"...All the riveting actions ensuing somehow make sense in this disturbing, extremely thought-provoking 75-minutes. Bravo to All involved!"
