by Christopher Durang

McCarter Theatre

Directed by Emily Mann

Costumes Jennifer von Mayrhauser, Lighting by Jeff Croiter

2018

“Upon entering McCarter Theatre Center's Berlind Theatre we find ourselves immediately confronted by Beowulf Boritt's colorfully skewed set. And by skewed, I mean literally skewed: All of the houses onstage are slanted on the sides, giving an otherwise normal American suburb the feel of a Norman Rockwell canvas refracted through a Looney Tunes funhouse mirror. This preceding stage image turns out to be a harbinger of the insanity to come.” ~Kenji Fujishima, Theatremania

“Set against the backdrop of Beowulf Boritt's meticulously benign suburban sprawl with its bright, cartoonish color palate.” ~Patrick Maley, NJ.com

“Designer Beowulf Boritt cleverly gives the set a bright, cheerful, cartoonish look, and frames it in a way that makes it look like we’re watching the action on television.” ~ Jay Lustig , NJArts.net

“The 90-minute play moves quickly, helped by the efficient novelty of the set by Beowulf Boritt.” ~ Sarah Vander Schaaff, BroadwayWorld

“Beowulf Boritt’s set design is a clever arrangement of houses with a turntable that allows fluid shifts between the two living rooms.” ~ Liz Keill, TAPintoNJ.com

“Beowulf Boritt’s sets and Jennifer von Mayrhauser’s costume designs use a color palette consisting mostly of yellow, red, and blue. Appropriately, this gives the production the look of an early color television show — or a Sunday comic strip. It also evokes a falsely cheerful mood that makes the dark undercurrents more disturbing.” ~ Donald H. Sanborn III, Princeton Town Topics

Scenic designer Beowulf Boritt, who also did this season’s Stones in His Pockets, has created a satiric set full of cookie-cutter beige houses with perfectly trimmed emerald green lawns, framed by a bright blue TV screen-shaped proscenium.  ~Allen Neuner, Out in NJ.com