Washington Post - Recommended
"...Clocking in at 2½ hours, the Olivier Award-winning production is not a particularly succinct bit of storytelling. But the ingenuity of its staging will impress theater aficionados, and everyone will be alive to its imaginatively expressed insight into how people cope with change and loss."
BroadwayWorld - Highly Recommended
"...A MONSTER CALLS, a powerful story of love, loss, truth and self-discovery, is beautifully rendered for the stage. The fantastical tale is highly physical, gorgeous to behold, and packs a potent emotional punch."
Talkin Broadway - Highly Recommended
"...The Kennedy Center in Washington is hosting a rare and beautiful production in the Eisenhower Theater through June 12: A Monster Calls, making its only U.S. appearance on a tour that earlier included two stops in the United Kingdom. It tells a deeply moving story as it fascinates with its nontraditional stagecraft, ensemble cast, and live musical accompaniment."
Washington City Paper - Highly Recommended
"...While there are some dark themes at play, Monster is, overall, a touching experience with a lot of soul. The titular monster (Keith Gilmore, but played by Paul Sockett on press night) haunts 13 year-old Conor (Anthony Aje) each night at 12:07, though he is unimpressed by the looming menace. Conor is focused more on the stress of school bullies, an absent father, and a mother growing sicker by the day from an illness that isn't responding to medicine. The monster is also not a traditional horrific beast, red in tooth and claw, but is instead the manifestation of an ancient yew tree in Conor's front yard. It's brought to life on stage through snaking, hanging ropes that serve as the show's primary props that, when bundled together and puppeteered by Sockett, serve as a convincing suggestion of a tall and ancient tree spirit."
DC Theater Arts - Highly Recommended
"...There is something very human about the ability to hold two disparate, opposing truths. It is at times the most frustrating, senseless part of life, while also being essential to our survival, and ultimately, completely natural. This is what A Monster Calls - an adult story masquerading as a children's play - seems to be trying to tell us."
Washington Informer - Highly Recommended
"...If you're willing to shake out the cobwebs that have long occupied your mind, then "A Monster Calls" will do the trick - and a whole lot more."
MD Theatre Guide - Highly Recommended
"...It's no wonder "A Monster Calls" impressed audiences across the pond. The imaginative stagecraft, low fantasy concept, and fluid directing each deserve praise. But underneath the awe of the monster's visits and the stories the old tree imparts, the core of the story is tragic and somber, eschewing "comforting lies" for "painful truths," as the monster himself says. Strap in and bring tissues."
Theatre Bloom - Highly Recommended
"...It is hard to describe the experience that is A Monster Calls now playing at The Kennedy Center in the Eisenhower Theater. Is it theater for Children? Is it dance? Is it a play for adults? Is it magic? There is all of this: music and dance and narration and puppetry and incredible acting and stage craft and imagination."
