Chicago Tribune
- Somewhat Recommended
"...There is, of course, a grand, ecumenical tradition of memoirs of rough, middle-class suburban childhoods, in all literary forms. In an infamous Chicago magazine article in February 1981, Gross revealed his views of his Skokie childhood, and he clearly is writing at least partly from his own truthful experience. Kevin Depinet's richly realized setting was inspired by the Gross family home, although it recalls the housing stock of many of Chicago's older suburbs. Fair enough. Gross' play does acknowledge the complexity and the pain in the past of many of the Skokie families of the era, and he is under no obligation to varnish his truth. Jolting an audience away from a nostalgic comfort zone is a perfectly worthy theatrical aim and Gross hits some balls hard, fast and honestly."
Chicago Reader
- Not Recommended
"...Neither Gross nor Robman has stepped away from the material far enough to realize that High Holidays' real subject is the oedipal triangle between Nate, Essie, and Rob. Gross knows it's there: one of the few moving moments in the play is a conversation between Essie and a drunken Nate in which he talks about it. But Gross's script fails to put this glaring bit of dysfunction at the center of things. As a result, everything's farkakt—structure, characterizations, everything. And we end up with over two and a half hours of anguished dialogue, threats, and violence about nothing more compelling than a bar mitzvah."
Windy City Times
- Somewhat Recommended
"...in Gross' dialogue, a moving story of an intergenerational battlefield is buried under characters so shockingly dislikable the production becomes a chore. What should be a provocative emotional portrait of lives on the cusp of a decade about to explode becomes an exercise in ugly tedium."
Copley News Service
- Somewhat Recommended
"...Alan Gross states that “High Holidays” is based on his own childhood in Skokie. If the play mirrors the author’s actual home life he has my sympathy. It was painful enough watching the bitterness, verbal (and some physical) violence, and hostility that drive the dysfunctional family Gross has put on the stage of the Goodman Owen Theatre. Imagine going through year after year of all that abuse."
Talkin Broadway
- Recommended
"...In this world premiere production at the Goodman, High Holidays is at 2:45 a good 20-30 minutes longer than it needs to be, but it shouldn't be hard for Gross to trim the fat. He might also want to ease up just a bit on the angst—it's not enough that Nate is a World War II vet, but he also had to fight in the Battle of the Bulge? These are minor concerns, though, for a play that manages to transcend the expectations of a traditional premise and become a thoughtful reflection on the meaning of manhood and an empathetic look at both sides of the generation gap, which would continue to explode for at least the next six or seven years after the night depicted in this play."
Chicagoist
- Somewhat Recommended
"...There's probably a decent play in there somewhere but there’s way too much to dig through to find it. It’s an oversimplification, but our main problem with Goodman Theatre’s High Holidays, a new play by Alan Gross, boils down to this: it's overkill. Yes, some parts were cute and / or fun. Yes, there were some solid, touching moments, However, the good parts of this show were overshadowed by issues that made us feel alienated, rather than drawn-in.
Edge
- Somewhat Recommended
"...High Holidays is a fast-paced, dialogue-heavy work, and tremendous credit goes to all four cast members for their extremely worthy performances. While Kupferer, as the wounded Nate, has been singled out for special recognition, praise is equally owing to Altay and Custer, as mother and son Essie and Rob, for their empathetic, comedic turns. Young Zuppa acquits himself nicely in his role as daydreamer Billy, and has a promising career to anticipate."
ChicagoCritic
- Somewhat Recommended
"...There is nothing new here but lots of screaming and manipulating guilt trips. Being peppered with too much Yiddish, High Holidays seems to play to Jewish audiences yet I’m not so sure that Jewish audiences will take kindly to Gross’ portrait of them? The show seem a tad under rehearsed as several cast members flubbed their lines several times. Young Max Zuppa, as Billy and Ian Paul Custer, as Rob were particularly effective and believable."
Chicago Stage and Screen
- Somewhat Recommended
"...This story is or could be a solid story of the changing times in our world and our lives. The guilt trips that our parents and grandparents put us through (no matter the ethnicity, there are guilt trips); the desire of our parents to see us have more than they did and the fear that once our children get smarter than we are, will they lose respect for us? These are what Gross is teaching us. In this production, smoothly directed by Steven Robman on a finely created set by Kevin Depinet, we meet what appears to be a typical family of the times. Young Billy (which by the way is not a typical Jewish name) is a young man who is two months away from his Bar Mitzvah, the day he becomes a man, but can't seem to learn his portion. In fact, he is petrified that he cannot do any of it."
