"Vigorously acted and bluntly entertaining...I’d like to think that the steroidal bodies and all-purpose sexiness are intended as a deliberate distraction, a gotcha embellishment meant to implicate the audience for failing to reckon with the full horror of Alex’s actions. But Ms. Spencer-Jones doesn’t deliver on such high-minded intentions. The violence never lets up, but as it’s set to synth-heavy Beethoven riffs, it also never lands."
Read more

"For those who do not hanker for Chippendales studs doing dance-rapes—quick, can we have a moratorium on dance-rapes?—this 'Orange' is rancid and confused, another sad example of an adaptation missing the point of its source material...Spencer-Jones' attempt at a super-dark, sexy-wexy production is about as frightening as an Abercrombie & Fitch ad, with a similar quantity of hard posing...Look away, or risk being turned off of theater forever."
Read more

"Spencer-Jones has envisioned an athletic, highly choreographed world...The result is to render all this violence shockingly un-shocking...There’s something overly sleek, almost glib about the choreography...The gloss and presentational tone turn the story’s danger intellectual rather than visceral...The play owes a present-day audience a bit more than some rock-and-roll choreography and a fallback on 'freedom of choice' as the issue at the heart of the piece."
Read more

"The production is like a dad bod. Stylish, sure. Intimidating, not so much. And it should be....At its best, Alexandra Spencer-Jones’ all-male vision has energy to burn as it plays out on a spare black stage to a loud, nearly wall-to-wall score of original music and pop covers. But so much emphasis on choreographed movement backfires as it gets repetitive and muddies storytelling. Even violent acts, like one with a broken bottle, emerge like something out of Looney Tunes."
Read more

"For those not familiar with the book or film, this production will often prove incomprehensible...It relates the story in broad, abstract strokes, relying so much on stylized choreographed movement that it often resembles modern dance. The result is that the brutal violence...doesn't have much visceral impact...The sheer energy of the performers as they go through their strenuous paces must be admired."
Read more

"Crackles with kinetic energy, punctuated by precise choreographed sequences...The ultraviolence depicted on stage is stylized and set to fun music...The violence here is artfully composed and provides ample shock-horror, but without any emotional weight...This is a play that will raise your heart rate, but it left me uncertain whether it was celebrating or criticizing the testosterone-frenzy it depicts. As a satire, I’m not entirely sure it succeeded, but it gave me plenty to talk about."
Read more

"Makes a powerful statement, though it falls just short of a knockout...Director Alexandra Spencer-Jones created a language of savagery in this stripped-down, stylized production that's as engrossing as it is disturbing...But after the initial shock of brutality, the rest of the play fails to produce the same heightened impact. And while the message is clear, the work lacks the emotional punch in the gut that Burgess intended."
Read more

"For 90 fast-paced minutes, this sexy, heart-pounding production never fails to entertain...With nine actors playing three dozen characters, Spencer-Jones directs the play with just enough detail to capture the story's big ideas. Provocative as those ideas are, however, the story often takes a back seat to other elements of the production, such as the chiseled, bare-chested actors...The highly stylized choreography tamps down the viciousness. But that's not a bad thing."
Read more