"Pennington brilliantly summons the spirit of Shakespeare onstage.

A production that seems to flow in the same way as Shakespeare's storytelling. Pennington clearly has learned from the master."
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"Pennington delivers a captivating evening.

It’s hard to imagine a more persuasive case being made for the value of devoting one’s life to this writer and his works."
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"Michael Pennington is giving a master class in Shakespeare at the Chicago Shakespeare Theater. It’s an event not to be missed.

Pennington’s ingratiating stage presence and his canny selection of material make Shakespeare’s life and works come alive with fresh information and stimulating insights.

He’s great company, droll and knowledgeable and gently opinionated. A most entertaining evening."
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“In his brilliant one man show Michael Pennington combines his performance skills with textual scholarship and practical knowledge to give us as well-rounded a portrait of Shakespeare and his art as you could hope for in two hours… Whether as the boy Mamillius in The Winter’s Tale, Mistress Quickly or the senile Shallow and Silence in Henry IV, he embraces the infinite variety found in Shakespeare’s world.

A magnificent classical actor in his prime.”

“A large spirited salute to Shakespeare’s “unprecedented, ungovernable talent” by a major actor… grace and incisiveness… such a delight.

He is steeped in Shakespearian knowledge, and he shares it with you with the modest generosity of a drinking partner… you are mesmerized… This show is a gem. If I weren’t a Shakespeare junkie, Pennington would have turned me into one.”

“A wonderfully perceptive show… the two hours teem with insights… Professional commentators may feel a twinge of envy that Pennington has the edge on them by being able to illustrate his perceptions with such deft, lucid performance. You emerge from this graceful show with your sense of Shakespeare refreshed and augmented.

Our greatest verse athlete since John Gielgud."