Review Roundup: 16th Street Theater Presents INTO THE BEAUTIFUL NORTH

16th Street Theater's 10th Anniversary Season continues with the National New Play Network rolling world premiere of INTO THE BEAUTIFUL NORTH by KAREN ZACARÍAS adapted from the novel by LUIS ALBERTO URREA and co-directed by Ann Filmer and MIGUEL NUÑEZ, April 13 - May 20, 2017 at North Berwyn Park District's 16th Street Theater, 6420 16th Street in Berwyn, with Press Opening on Thursday, April 20 @ 7:30 PM.

Inspired by the classic film The Magnificent Seven, a young woman and her companions leave their small Mexican town and venture across the border.

Nayeli, Tacho and Vampi are determined to bring back seven good men to protect their village from the invasion of narco-traficantes and the risk of extinction. Playwright Karen Zacarías (author of The Book Club Play) has crafted Luis Alberto Urrea's bestselling novel into a fast-paced comical tale full of colorful characters that surprise and delight. A funny and heartwarming look at the dreams shared on both sides of the border.

Let's see what the critics had to say!

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Chicago Reader (Tony Adler): Still, things work out pretty well overall. I suppose we tolerate the absurdity of stage adaptations because we want-apparently at all costs-to reach across the words and get physically close to the folks we've found in novels. We want the chance to view them in motion, from the side and back as well as the front. This adaptation achieves that. Slips notwithstanding, the cast accomplish the essential business of bringing Into the Beautiful North beautifully into the room. Esteban Andres Cruz's Tacho, Brandon Rivera's Atomiko, and Laura Crotte's Irma, Nayeli's force-of-nature aunt, are particularly engaging, but everybody on Joanna Iwanicka's clever set contributes energetically to a solid sense of ensemble.

Chicago Tribune (Kerry Reid): Cruz brings sharp-tongued wit and a touch of fatalism to Tacho. Nunez shines in several roles, from a Mexican doctor who picks up Tacho at a crucial moment to an aging bowling champ. Laura Crotte as Irma, Nayeli's aunt, is a piquant mix of pragmatism and romantic yearning. Brandon Rivera as Atomiko, a broomstick-wielding would-be ninja who joins Nayeli's crew, provides comic relief. But he's also emblematic of what people who live in extreme poverty (his home literally is a dump in Tijuana) will do to create alternative realities for themselves.

Sun Times (Catey Sullivan): There are no fancy production values in "Into the Beautiful North." Joanna Iwanicki's minimalist set design is a series of rust-colored, correlated walls that slide and open to imply buses, restaurants, mountain tops and the massive, foreboding "border fence" that stretches along the boundary between Mexico and the U.S.

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