Christopher's work has been featured in The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, National Public Radio, The New Yorker, New York Magazine, Village Voice, NBC’s Today Show, Chicago Tribune, Chicago Sun Times, Washington Post, Boston Globe, USA Today, American Theatre Magazine, and Art Forum, among many others.
DEBATE: BALDWIN VS. BUCKLEY
"Teagle F Bougere is absolutely riveting" - The Stage
"Commanding" - The Observer
"Utterly captivating" - The Guardian
“Intriguing & Defiant" - The Times
"5-Stars!" - Broadway World UK
"Eric T Miller's performance is quitely chilling” - The Stage
"Superbly performed" - Everything Theatre UK
"Highbrow/Brilliant" - New York Magazine
"Bougere is fantastic" - The Reviews Hub
"My best recommendation of the week" - Vulture
"Radically staged” - Stage Buddy
"Unmissable" - Vulture
“A palpable sense of electricity, animosity, and history coursing through the room” - Theater Mania
FAR FROM THE NILE
“A world-changing documentary… A must-watch for any and all, providing a road map for finding the way to bring together our ultra-divided, hyper-chaotic world.” - MIME
“A wholly entertaining and often uplifting documentary… The project is about finding common ground above all else, and watching the results flow is exhilarating.” - Screen Daily
STATIC APNEA (2020)
Highbrow | Brilliant - New York Magazine, The Approval Matrix | Vulture
“Fascinating to behold… You navigate through a narrow, winding path with mirrors on each side until a walkway appears ... The walls to your left and right glow a rich cobalt ... and, later, other piercing shades, that give the unnerving sense of being surrounded — trapped, even... Static Apnea had me holding my breath” - The New York Times, Critic Pick
PIEDMONT BLUES PROJECT
Washington Post: Celebrating a Subdued Kind of Blues
Oxford American: Picking Up the Piedmont Blues
DOUGLASS
"Cool in presentation" ... "Superb" ... "An intellectually rigorous piece of writing" ... "The un-Hamilton." - Chicago Tribune
"3 1/2 out of 4 stars" ... "Evocative" ... "Impressive" ... "The performances are topnotch" - Chicago Theater Beat
"Amazingly done" ... "Superbly played" ... "The importance of the story line was that the struggles that [Frederick] Douglass had are still evident today. Watch the nightly news ... being an African-American in this country is still not as equal as the constitution said." - Around the Town
"A multi-media masterpiece" ... "A timely example of political co-option and exploitation" ... "[The play] asks a necessary question to indict today’s factions: What best sways men’s souls—reason or feeling (Hillary or Trump)?" - Stage and Cinema
INVISIBLE MAN
"A remarkable… must-see… dramatic achievement … Christopher McElroen's unstinting and intensely crafted production … a veritable feast of visual pleasures.” - Chicago Tribune
"An altogether hypnotic adaptation of Invisible Man … Christopher McElroen has assembled a ferocious cast and a design team with a seamlessly matched vision.” - Chicago Sun Times
“5 stars. This Invisible Man should be seen far and wide … Christopher McElroen’s stunningly successful new stage adaptation … the director distills Invisible Man into a three-act drama that speaks in a language all its own.” - Time Out
“Ravishingly composed… Radiantly evocative… Staged with visual panache by director Christopher McElroen … Staged with abundant theater savvy by McElroen.” - Washington Post
“A must-see… The definition of theatrical brilliance … Christopher McElroen’s direction is extremely effective.” - Broadway World
"Complex and stylistically daring… the adaptation captures the book's relentless intelligence and sophisticated view of race and identity." - Variety
WAITING FOR GODOT
“One of the Ten Best National Arts Events of 2007” - The New York Times
“A daffy, damp, surprisingly effective version as staged by Christopher McElroen … Who knew this play could still surprise? Apparently, Mr. McElroen did.” - The New York Times
“An arresting vision of Waiting for Godot that resonates even after the curtain call.” - Variety
“Few productions [of Godot] have been as bracing and immediate … a thrilling new Godot for our times … McElroen has transplanted the (in)action to a limbo surrounded by water … It’s a metaphor for how we live today: in a muddled state of depression, anger, hopefulness and impotence.” - Time Out
“McElroen mounts a deft restaging of Beckett’s masterpiece … A mirror to those New Orleans natives who may or may not have given up on Godot by now, as they wait for the return of their faith.” - The New Yorker
“Christopher McElroen's staging is the most accessible, the funniest, the most moving and meaningful "Godot" we are ever likely to see... This is stimulating, adventurous, theater of the first order in which we see ourselves in the mirror of a great play.” - Times Picayune
“An unforgettable night of theater … Under Christopher McElroen’s brisk direction, Beckett’s famously verbose play, which is equally revered for its long and weighty silences, generated fevered monologues and existential retorts that would sometimes hang in the air for several moments, while ghosts whispered noisily in the adjacent fields.” - ArtForum
“The performances are capturing the zeitgeist of a city waiting impatiently for Katrina's aftershocks to subside. So many people showed up for Friday's opening night performance, even those who'd never heard of Beckett before, that hundreds were turned away because seating was limited to 500. Some arrived with babies in their arms, others still in their blue work coveralls, others from the wealthiest parts of town.” - Associated Press
THE BLACKS: A CLOWN SHOW
"The Blacks is mesmerizing ... Mr. McElroen's production turns the play into a literal circus. The show is gripping in its pure energy, its overcaffeinated bluster and its willingness to set the theatergoer's teeth on edge…the production has, in no small measure, succeeded." - The New York Times
"This extraordinary production, which combines elements from minstrelsy, commedia dell’arte, and Chitlin Circuit routines, has been arrestingly directed by Christopher McElroen." - The New Yorker
"Stunningly acted, carefully directed, and beautifully designed . . . The result is provocative, visceral theatre." - The Village Voice
"The theater has never felt more dangerous than it does in the revival of Jean Genet's 1959 play The Blacks: A Clown Show. Christopher McElroen has directed an electrifying production.” - Theatremania.com
"Directed with fire and precision by Christopher McElroen … The Blacks is a must-see … Utterly fearless ... raw and thrilling to watch … this is what true social and political theater can and should be… a theatrical tour de force." - Backstage.com
THE CHERRY ORCHARD
“Like Orson Welles and Joseph Papp before him, Christopher McElroen knows that casting is key -- especially when it comes to Chekhov, whose Cherry Orchard he has adapted and staged … McElroen has taken Chekhov’s recurring theme of master and servant in many new directions.” - The New Yorker
“Under Christopher McElroen's deft direction the production releases the vital force of Chekhov … this Cherry Orchard moves briskly, riding Chekhov's musicality.” - Village Voice
“Stunningly powerful production.” - The New York Times
“A remarkable version of The Cherry Orchard that not only reaches Chekhov’s goal of high comedy but retains the innate tragedy that flows beneath every line ... Director Christopher McElroen creates a vivacious combination of moods that is alluringly theatrical.” - NYTheatre.com
“A vibrant, energetic, almost non-stop presentation … McElroen has found the life and humor in this classic” - Curtainup.com
MARAT SADE
“This new production, by Christopher McElroen, is a harrowing experience, a reminder that theater is not always a safe place.” - The New York Times
“With obsessive attention to detail and brilliant design choices, McElroen has created the impression of going to hell to meet the devil … aggressively political theater.” - Newsday
“Exhilarating … startlingly violent … visceral … fearless.” - Time Out
“A thrillingly disturbing environmental production.” - BroadwayWorld.com
THREE SISTERS
“Laughing through tears, scoffing through smiles—there are so many perplexing shades of sensibility in the world of a Chekhov play. Christopher McElroen slathers them all (artfully) onto the canvas … McElroen and his cast succeed in making the central questions of the play—about happiness and suffering, gratification and deferral—seem fresh and important.” - Village Voice
“In the end the real credit for the success of this production has to go to director Christopher McElroen, whose interpretive touches are uncannily accurate. McElroen strikes every right note, from intelligent and energetic staging to pacing to coherency of theme, and the result is a truly memorable performance.” - CurtainUp.com
“If I could, I would shrink this production into something I could fit into my pocket to use as my best defense for those times when I wind up in an argument with someone who thinks the classics should not continue to be staged. I would pull this production out, plop it in front of the naysayer, and let it prove that if thought, passion, energy, humor, and bravery are put into the project, the play should and will continue to have a life.” - NYTheatre.com