Washington Post - Somewhat Recommended
"...Although stocked with arresting lyricism, Komunyakaa and Gracia's text packs a little too much tidy moral into the mystical adventure tale. Adding extra earnestness to this production are the solemn, choreographed hand gestures the actors sometimes execute when concepts such as "dream" (a fist at eye level) and "God" (splayed fingers) crop up in conversation. Presumably, the device is intended to suggest the characters' reverent, archaic mind-set, but the effect is ponderous. Overall, "Gilgamesh" lacks the humor that helped make another Constellation spin on ancient epic, "The Ramayana," so exhilarating."
DC Theater Arts - Recommended
"...It's not often that a company can so completely remake a piece of history and claim it as their own. Gilgamesh is an amazing display of storytelling, and the production is a fantastic example of Constellation Theatre Company's dedication to integrating multiple art forms in their work."
Washington Examiner - Highly Recommended
"...With such vivid imagery and the appeal of the oldest story ever written, there is an air of collective memory to these well-aged tales, as though its morality and verse lies somewhere beneath the strata of the subconscious in a pool of forgotten truth. Under Stockman's keen direction, this "Gilgamesh" is one epic you have to see to believe."
MetroWeekly - Somewhat Recommended
"...Right now, there's a work of art gracing the stage at the Source on 14th Street. And I don't mean Gilgamesh, the fantastical show created around Yusef Komunyakaa's flowery prose poetry. Well, not the script or the story of Gilgamesh anyway. Based on an ancient written epic from Mesopotamia, Komunyakaa's work is too fanciful and over-the-top to fully draw you in or even really understand. You may find yourself asking what's the point? There's no clear answer, even with a bit of resolution at show's end."
WeLoveDC - Somewhat Recommended
"...Ultimately, Gilgamesh proves the daring energy of Constellation. A two-hour epic is difficult enough to stage, but even harder when telling one of the oldest stories in existence. Many companies fail with much more simple goals. In this case, the production doesn't go deep enough or offer enough emotional heart to carry us along with its heroes."
Washington City Paper - Somewhat Recommended
"...Under the direction of Allison Arkell Stockman, we get a seemingly endless series of Stuff That Happens to Gilgamesh (fights, lots of grunting; love scenes, lots of grunting). The gist is that our hero sets out from home and encounters all manner of magical beasts and spirits-some ridiculous, like the Scorpion Man and Scorpion Woman, who wear miniature scorpions on their heads, click their guitar-pick-like claws and hiss, "I can see into your heart!"-before finally returning. But even when the second act deals extensively with Gilgamesh's slow crawl back to the throne following the sudden slaying of Enkidu, we're given nary a single plausible reason to care what happens to him or anyone else."
Washington Times - Highly Recommended
"...As with last season's Metamorphoses, this production is not your normal theatrical bill of fare. Reflecting timeless realities yet not of our time, Constellation's Gilgamesh, like the epic upon which it is founded, relates truth through timeless, highly stylized poetry and dance movements. In short, it's a colorful, haunting evening of theater. We can, without reservation, recommend this production highly for theatergoers seeking something new, intellectually provocative, and deeply evocative."
ShowBizRadio - Somewhat Recommended
"...The problem is compounded by some of the production's line delivery choices. There are exceptions - Gilgamesh's last speech of the first act, in which he laments Enkidu's death, is emotionally powerful - but Santner typically gives his character a curiously flat affect with little variation. Honeycutt, on the other hand, with fewer lines, more satisfyingly characterizes Enkidu (somewhat annoyingly pronounced as "inky-dew," with the accent on the first syllable) with his voice. Members of the three-person chorus - a pre-Greek chorus, one might say, though they perform the same narrative and commenting function - deliver their lines in a very declamatory way, augmented by highly stylized gestures and, for some reason, bits of American Sign Language. "Show, don't tell" is one of the oldest cliches of the theater business, and Constellation's Gilgamesh includes a great deal of telling."
MD Theatre Guide - Highly Recommended
"...There's something powerful about the straightforward, the clear and articulate, the simple-particularly in this age where we, though interested in the historical and the "antiquarian," rarely consider the artifact as it is. With Gilgamesh, Constellation Theatre's world premiere production of the world's oldest tale, poet Yusef Komunyakaa's beautiful pitch-perfect text and dramatist Chad Gracia's structurally edifying frame take center stage, offering Washington audiences that rarest of opportunities: ancient wisdom."
