Washington Post - Recommended
"...So raise a flute to writers past, Whose names we lose but dramas last.
And let’s hope somewhere he has news His work can still get good reviews."
Variety - Highly Recommended
"... Who would have thought a steady stream of shameless rhymes and groan-worthy puns could be such a hoot? But in the pitiless hands of playwright David Ives -- whose play "Venus in Fur" opens on Broadway later this fall -- there is payoff aplenty in this adaptation of "The Heir Apparent," a 300-year-old French farce by Jean-Francois Regnard."
MetroWeekly - Recommended
"...Geronte (and thus Floyd) feature more in the first act, and there is far more time in act two in the company of the young quartet of actors who conspire, ever more frenziedly, to ensure that Geronte's nephew Eraste inherits the old man's estate. The two for whom it comes easiest are Carson Elrod, playing Crispin, a manservant, and Kelly Hutchinson as Lisette, Geronte's long-suffering maid and Crispin's girlfriend. Though Elrod doesn't bring the nuance of experience, he does bring tremendous energy and some verve as he plays all manner of dress-up to fool Geronte. Hutchinson tends towards a distracting actorly vocal huskiness, but once in the swing of things, she offers a piquant edge to her earthy one-liners."
WeLoveDC - Highly Recommended
"...It’s a whirlwind, madcap, fourth-wall-breaking, rhyming, asiding, many-joke-gliding play that works in more jokes than you’d expect to hear in a day. Much less two hours. It’s a good, light-hearted time which rarely missteps and is filled with contretemps and eventually the rhythm gets under your skin and is hard to shake, even a few days later when you’re writing your review."
Talkin Broadway - Highly Recommended
"...The humor is often crude, but always elegantly phrased: for example, in the midst of a great many anatomical comments, Lisette says of Geronte that "His bowels are the only part that moves." The incongruous references to Godzilla, the Lone Ranger and Tonto, soccer moms, and national health insurance just add to the laughs. It all runs like clockwork—and, in fact, a large, wheezing clock is a highlight of Alexander Dodge's opulently cluttered scenic design."
Washington City Paper - Recommended
"...If you enjoyed David Ives’ uproarious “transladaptation” of The Liar at the Shakespeare Theatre Company (or if any of the above made you long for the door-slamming deliriousness of Noises Off), you might be the natural audience for the company’s premiere of The Heir Apparent, newly transmogrified by Ives—whose Venus in Fur at the Studio Theatre moved Washington City Paper to quote not just David Mamet but Lou Reed and film critic Nathan Rabin—from the musty archives of a 17th-century French playwright no one in the United States has ever heard of. (This is an exaggeration, but not by much.)"
MD Theatre Guide - Highly Recommended
"...Overall, audiences can expect a laugh a minute when watching this piece. Yes, some of the jokes do get a bit old, but the light-hearted humor is largely well-executed. I’d venture to say this is likely one of the funniest plays in Washington, DC at the moment. STC deserves much praise for skillfully bringing this work to life. Under less capable hands, a farce can fall flat and leave the audience (or at least me) asking “Why did I sit through this?” The evening went by rather quickly, and the play left the audience wanting more."
DCTheatreScene - Highly Recommended
Not only is Ives one of America’s most brilliant living playwrights, he’s also one of our youngest at heart. Under the pressure of Ives’s mischievous pen, even the oldest texts, crumbled by years of neglect, seem to snap together in fresh assembly.
BroadwayWorld - Highly Recommended
"...
I was laughing so hard at times, my wife Lisa had to hit me so she could hear the lines. I ended up buying an autographed copy of of the play sold at the STC's gift shop and I'm so happy I did. I had missed so much."
