"...Out struts an impertinent young woman in a girdle who declares, "Death is terribly unfashionable at the moment.".....visually enchanting production of Alexander Ostrovsky's 1850 comic drama, adapted by Nick Dear. The young woman, the daughter of a wealthy Moscow merchant, wants to marry, and to that end she enlists the help of her flighty mother, her overbearing father, and assorted hangers-on with both romance and finance on their minds.
Director Gavin Witt has crafted a literate but oddball two hours ...an excellent cast, led by Chris Conry as lovelorn suitor Lazar Elizarich; miniballets that move the action along with the flickering energy of the Keystone Kops; an alarming cast mutiny that hilariously breaks the fourth wall... The production is sumptuously designed. Josh Epstein's fantastic set, anchored by a giant surrealistic window looming upstage, is sophisticated and moody, as is his luscious lighting. Erin Teufel's fanciful costumes, all crinolines and poplin, are remarkable, the show's true highlight" Chicago Reader