Los Angeles Times - Recommended
"...The production, a massively ambitious project for Rogue Machine under the direction of Artistic Director John Perrin Flynn, employs a teeming cast in a drama that aspires to Shakespearean scope. The dramatic poetry may fall short, but the storytelling moves in a contrapuntal rhythm and the shifts from prose to an audacious lyricism reveal a writer impatient with prosaic chat."
Broadway World - Recommended
"...And while a lot of the scientific language during the 3-hour play is daunting at best to fully comprehend, we are forewarned at the beginning by Oppenheimer himself, expertly portrayed by James Liebman, that he will be able to "make it clearer, but not simpler" to understand. The play is brutally intense at times and highly entertaining at others"
Stage and Cinema - Recommended
"...Director John Perrin Flynn stages the fast-paced scenes well, and he allows the actors the space to explore their characters' numerous psychological and emotional conflicts. This is a very long play, but it never feels plodding or boring. The party scenes, though, can verge toward false merriment at times, and the pushing and shoving of the scientists grows strained as they demonstrate how protons and neutrons bash into one another as atoms are split. We get it. By the third or fourth time they do it we just want them to stop."
Stage Scene LA - Highly Recommended
"...Epic in scope. As cinematic as it is theatrical. A lesson in history and a cautionary tale for future generations. Tim Morton-Smith's monumental bio-drama Oppenheimer is all this and a spectacular achievement for Rogue Machine Theatre in its American Premiere."
Hollywood Progressive - Highly Recommended
"...For those who love hard-hitting drama that have the guts to take on challenging subject matter illuminating the human condition, don't dare miss this production that epitomizes the stage at its very best. Run - don't walk. Oppenheimer is electrifying theatre at the Electric Lodge."
Total Theater - Highly Recommended
"...Mostly, though, Oppenheimer deals with J. Robert's moral dilemma stemming from his participation in the development of the A-bomb. It seemed a good thing to him at first, a way of defeating America's brutal, ruthless enemies in Germany and Japan. But then, as theoretical work on the bomb proceeded, he began to see the full extent of its destructive powers. It was a weapon that could conceivably blow up the world one day. Horrified as he was, he still pushed for it to be dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, for scientific as well as military reasons. When he saw the devastation it wrought, he became a broken man."
Cultural Weekly - Highly Recommended
"...Ultimately, the production's unimpeded flow, Brechtian overtones, smart choices and the play's deep dive into the complicated man who said he needed physics more than he needed friends, prove irresistible. It's a thrilling ride."
Stage Raw - Highly Recommended
"...Although Rogue Machine is a small theatre company, it's always punching above its weight class and generally achieving whatever artistic challenges it sets for itself. This year the group had a particularly difficult task - it had to find a new home, a misfortune that sometimes sinks otherwise stable organizations. Thankfully the group has now relocated to the Electric Lodge in Venice. One might think Rogue Machine would rest on its laurels. Nope. To the contrary, it has just opened a new drama, the American premiere of Tom Morton-Smith's Oppenheimer, an ambitious piece that features twenty-four actors. It's a strong, compelling production."
Hollywood Revealed - Recommended
"...OPPENHEIMER by Tom Morton-Smith is a sweeping and complex play that examines the moral issues and personalities surrounding the invention of the nuclear weapon that was used to devastate Hiroshima and Nagasaki at the end of WWII."
