JENN THOMPSON
DIRECTOR
CHAINS
BY ELIZABETH BAKER
MINT THEATRE COMPANY
"A GLEAMING GEM, both ENGROSSING and SUPREMELY WELL-ACTED...directed with GRACEFUL FINESSE by Jenn Thompson.'
- Charles Isherwood, The Wall Street Journal
"This welcome Mint production is a refined affair though there’s no lack of desperation seething
just below the surface of these parlors and dining rooms in the London suburbs...It's all
PERFECTLY MODULATED by the director, Jenn Thompson, amid a MARVELOUS set designed
by John McDermott. The cast of eleven, most in their Mint débuts, is IMPECCABLE."
- The New Yorker
"The Mint Theater has again discovered a TREASURE from the literary past (this one has delicacy and a keen sidelong emotionality), and reminded us of how long the working world has ground
us beneath its heel. Jenn Thompson presides over a CRISPLY PERFORMED and ELEGANTLY DESIGNED production."
- Vulture
"TOP-NOTCH...SPECTACULAR...Once again, the Mint does justice to an obscure play."
- TheaterMania
"As is always the case with Mint productions, director Jenn Thompson's HEART -TUGGING mounting presents an old play without any contemporary commentary or interpretation. At the center is the EXCELLENT work of both Jeremy Beck, whose Charley shows the signs of struggling with his want for more, and Laakan McHardy, whose kind, demure exterior as Lily is shattered in a scene where Charley tries to explain that he doesn't want to end their marriage, but he still has a yearning to seek a new life."
- Broadway World
"BRAVO to the MINT...Jenn Thompson has directed Chains with clarity and authority, benefited by John McDermott's INVENTIVE and EFFECTIVE scene design."
- WBAI Radio
"QUIETLY DEVASTATING...We go to the Mint to discover fascinating lost works that elegantly illuminate dark corners of theatre history. Chains, in Jenn Thompson's SUPERBLY STAGED production, has all of that, but it also addresses, clearly and directly, the present moment, when so many are questioning the quality of their work lives, or whether they want to work at all.
- Lighting and Sound America
"WELL-ACTED...WELL DIRECTED...Older plays like this are rarely given a fresh look the way that the Mint Theater Company has made it its mission to do, and this one, despite its period setting, speaks directly to our time and the changing relationship between profit-driven businesses and their low-paid workers."
- Talkin' Broadway
"EXCELLENT...TOP-NOTCH...The Mint Theater has put together a FIRST-CLASS PRODUCTION on every level...Directed by Jenn Thompson with a perfect combination of humor and pathos."
- DC Metro Arts
"SPLENDID...INCREDIBLY DETAILED...an extremely fine production directed by Jenn Thompson."
- New York Stage Review
"Jenn Thompson’s direction has a snap that makes a century-old-plus play feel brand new...
Viewing this FINE PRODUCTION, we can instantly see why a forgotten play thrilled its audiences back in the day, and thank the Mint once again for affording us the opportunity to discover another LOST TREASURE."
-Theatre Scene
"SUBLIME..SUPERB...ELEGANTLY DIRECTED by Jenn Thompson with a cunning wit — she also helmed Conflict and Men without Women — and IMPECCABLY PERFORMED
by a nine-person cast."
- This Week in NY
"A talented cast and the PITCH PERFECT design and direction of this production brings this all home."
- Westfield News
"...director Jenn Thompson’s LUCID, MOVING, and EXQUISITELY ACTED production, which feels both grounded in a specific historical and cultural milieu and yet also relevant today."
- Off Off Online
"TERRIFIC...SUPERB ACTING...Thompson has helped to strengthen the brilliance of Baker’s work and reveal her to be a playwright worth revisiting again and again...I CANNOT PRAISE THIS PRESENTATION ENOUGH...GO SEE IT."
- Skyline NYC