Los Angeles Times - Recommended
"...Director Dana Resnick delivers a comically acute production that goes gleefully over-the-top yet remains authentic. Deutsch and James are gloriously ill-tempered in their high-decibel exchanges, while Hood and Rogers are hilarious in their less showy turns."
Broadway World - Recommended
"...Complimenting the production is the wonderfully realistic Scenic Design by David Offner, Costume Design by Vicki Conrad, Lighting Design by Tom Ash, and Sound Design by Marisa Whitmore, with Josh La Cour's realistic props scattered around making it easy to picture yourself inside this cluttered studio apartment in New York City as the cousins attempt to work out their differences. Director Dana Resnick, a professor of theater arts at Loyola Marymount University, asks us, "where should we draw the line in the fight for what we believe?" And no doubt the play's premise and presentation will leave you discussing its implications long afterwards."
LA Splash - Recommended
"...Starring Jeanette Deutsch (Daphna Feygenbaum,) Lila Hood (Melody,) Noah James (Liam Haber,) and Austin Rogers (Jonah Haber) and was enhanced by director Resnick's own abilities and sensibilities. All the actors deserve awards for the intense passions they put in their work. Austin, who is not Jewish, learned more about the Jewish traditions for his role, but all of them should only move into bigger and better roles."
Stage Scene LA - Highly Recommended
"...Joshua Harmon's Bad Jews is back in a terrifically acted and directed Odyssey Theatre Ensemble production that does its smart, button-pushing source material proud."
The Los Angeles Post - Recommended
"...But it's Mr. James who stands out, delivering a performance so filled with kinetic energy - even when he's standing still - that occasionally one fears he'll explode in a burst of apoplexy. He imbues his central monologue with so many colors, muted detonations, and outright comic blasts, that it becomes a guffaw-inducing tour de force."
Stage Raw - Highly Recommended
"...Physical comedy figures heavily into each character's mounting rage. The animated James repeatedly tightens his stance to show when his character attempts to stifle his anger and frustration. Conversely, when he finally lets loose, he makes use of the entire space to express his rage, kicking objects as his voice cracks every time he mentions Daphna's name. Deutsch's mocking facial expressions are the classic signs of a self-righteous person who gets through life believing she's better than the rest by putting others down first. She eggs Liam on with each swishy gesture and sly smile."
Peoples World - Highly Recommended
"...In the brutally, savagely dark comedy Bad Jews, now playing at the Odyssey Theatre here, playwright Joshua Harmon puts a contemporary spin on a very old question that haunts any community that seeks to preserve its culture throughout the millennia. Does our tradition exist exclusively for ourselves, or can we share our most transcendent values with the entire world?"
Hollywood Revealed - Highly Recommended
"..."Bad Jews" is a powerful, impressive play that will stay with you long after the curtain comes down. I'm already looking forward to revisiting it again before it closes in June."
LA Excites - Highly Recommended
"...Unquestionably, the high-powered and high-octane family-fireworks affair of "Bad Jews" is compelling every minute of the way, accruing momentum at a feverish pace that elicits not just laughter, but brings to light questions about religious and cultural identity in a world that is becoming more globalized. In what is a credit to Harmon, Resnick, and the cast, the characters are multilayered, in the sense that there are takeaways from each that we can both agree and disagree on. There is no saint in "Bad Jews," and that's what makes it a rivetingly human story."