"..Now, one of Chicago's brightest young companies, The Hypocrites, has taken on "Balm in Gilead." Director Sean Graney, who also designed the blood-red diner setting for the basement of the Chopin Theatre complex on West Division, takes the text into a universe of disaffected Mohawk-sporting loners, visually here and now. Without bringing in specific present-day signifiers as cell phones, Graney and company inhabit a diner spanning five decades of recent history. It's an excitingly packed show." ,Chicago Tribune



"John Malkovich's production of "Balm" in the early 1980s helped put the Steppenwolf Theatre Company on the national map. So it is only fitting that it is now being revived by the very gifted young director Sean Graney, and his company, The Hypocrites, most of whom were in grade school or even diapers two decades ago. (This fact also accounts for the more punkish look of the current production, with spikey Mohawks replacing Steppenwolf's long-haired hippie style.) Wilson's play also feeds into an obsession of Graney's -- the loss of innocence in a cruel world. Graney (who doubles as set designer) has assembled a cast of 26 actors and set them down in the confines of a fiery red-walled greasy spoon in New York that aptly suggests a room in purgatory" Chicago Sun Times



It was predictable that a director with Graney's ambition and love of unconventional plays would want to tackle the Mt. Everest of alternative American plays: Lanford Wilson's wild, sprawling production about street life in New York City "Balm in Gilead." Many directors have tried this one and many have gone down in flames as they tried to find order in Wilson's crowded scenes and long, crazy dialogue. Iff you are looking for a powerful, more or less uncensored look at the seamy side of life, you would be hard pressed to find a more intelligent, graceful and worthy production than Graney's version of "Balm in Gilead." - Daily Herald