MOBY DICK Lookingglass Theatre Company "The Fates... with voices like sirens that have the ability to calm and soothe while also evoking feelings of terror and extreme unease... they contribute their considerable physical prowess to make this production come alive with movement from the floor to the ceiling of the theatre space." -ChicagolandMusicalTheatre.com THE BROKEN HEART Quintessence Theatre Group "Mattie Hawkinson (Penthea) convincingly builds from stifled unhappiness to raging misery and total mental collapse. Penthea's decent into madness, during which she relives an earlier interaction with Orgilus, is gut wrenching." -Talking Broadway CITY OF CONVERSATION Northlight Theatre "Director Marti Lyons obviously figured out that Anna could not be a harpy, and she found Hawkinson, who comes armed with a performance that's at once appealing, warm and totally terrifying. I really admire this particular piece of acting, mostly because of the way it captures, without resorting to stereotype, those who just are so certain of that in which they believe.." -Chris Jones, Chicago Tribune |
MOURNING BECOMES ELECTRA Quintessence Theatre Group
"The four-hour monolith is a trial for any actress playing Lavinia, and Hawkinson is an absolute thrill. Her Lavinia is an untiring, earnest, willful moral question mark...Hers might be one of the major theatrical accomplishments of the year. "
Phindie
"The four-hour monolith is a trial for any actress playing Lavinia, and Hawkinson is an absolute thrill. Her Lavinia is an untiring, earnest, willful moral question mark...Hers might be one of the major theatrical accomplishments of the year. "
Phindie
BLACKBIRD
Victory Gardens Theatre
"A Chicago actress named Mattie Hawkinson wipes the floor with William Petersen, star of "CSI" and the name above the title on the marquee. Actually, that doesn't adequately describe it... a career-making performance, at once determined, vulnerable, nuanced and primal. She lobs lines, pleads, emotes, rages, and, it feels, twists her entire body into the emotional pretzel that her character has become." Chicago Tribune
"It may be Petersen’s CSI fame that has performances of this Chicago premiere selling out, but audiences who come for Gil Grissom will leave Mattie Hawkinson fans—the depth and precision of her performance is nothing short of breathtaking. Petersen crumples masterfully in Zacek’s tightly wound production, but it’s Hawkinson’s play. As you watch her crescendo in the long, riveting indictment of a monologue in which she recounts the last time she saw Ray, just heed our advice: Remember to breathe." Time Out, Chicago
-Full review of Blackbird: here
-Feature article on Mattie in Blackbird in NewCity: here
Victory Gardens Theatre
"A Chicago actress named Mattie Hawkinson wipes the floor with William Petersen, star of "CSI" and the name above the title on the marquee. Actually, that doesn't adequately describe it... a career-making performance, at once determined, vulnerable, nuanced and primal. She lobs lines, pleads, emotes, rages, and, it feels, twists her entire body into the emotional pretzel that her character has become." Chicago Tribune
"It may be Petersen’s CSI fame that has performances of this Chicago premiere selling out, but audiences who come for Gil Grissom will leave Mattie Hawkinson fans—the depth and precision of her performance is nothing short of breathtaking. Petersen crumples masterfully in Zacek’s tightly wound production, but it’s Hawkinson’s play. As you watch her crescendo in the long, riveting indictment of a monologue in which she recounts the last time she saw Ray, just heed our advice: Remember to breathe." Time Out, Chicago
-Full review of Blackbird: here
-Feature article on Mattie in Blackbird in NewCity: here