"Ms. Hamill and Mr. Tucker’s 'Vanity Fair' is a breathless thing and often too hectic. But this show is a gift to actors and a goody bag for its audience...Mr. Tucker encourages the actors to indulge themselves. But they’re having such a high old time that their pleasure is infectious. Less successful are the direct-address monologues Ms. Hamill has interpolated, which state themes too baldly, and dance sequences set to the likes of 'Thriller,' which blare the play’s contemporary bona fides."
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“Ms. Hamill’s ‘Vanity Fair,’ which is being performed to coruscatingly brilliant effect by the Pearl Theatre Company, is a masterpiece of creative compression that is at once arrestingly original and faithful to its source material…The quick-change shape-shifting of the cast, the outrageous physical comedy of the staging, the startlingly witty use of props: All are Mr. Tucker’s now-familiar trademarks, and all add immeasurably to the show’s impact...Really ought to transfer to Broadway.”
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"Thackeray's delicious wit and satirical side-winks often get lost in this ambitious, sometimes unfocused translation...More straightforward storytelling might have better served this almost three-hour-long production. The actors never fail to impress as they race about the stage and deliver some truly inspired moments...But more often than not, the hit-and-miss jokes let the air out of this colorful balloon of a show, and the second act becomes downright dour."
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"'Vanity Fair' has a little bit of everything to make it one of the most intriguing adaptations of a novel I have ever seen...Becky is such a fascinating character, and watching Kate Hamill in this role was such a pleasure...That is not to undermine the extremely talented cast that joins her in the telling of this story: individuals that each play a myriad of interesting characters with such vigor and conviction, they make it look easy."
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"Hamill has performed a highly efficient act of distillation, exposing the solid structure underlying Thackeray's sprawling satire...Aided by a nimble company of seven, Hamill and Tucker roll out scene after scene right out of a satiric engraving in Punch...I hasten to add that Tucker, who never can let well enough alone, does from time to time indulge himself...These moments are soon over...This production never lets us forget that Thackeray's satire routinely cuts too close for comfort."
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"Even with an ideal space for Bedlam's style of classic adaptions and scenic designer Sandra Goldmark on board to support Eric Tucker's directorial vision, wrestling Thackeray's epic character and plot-stuffed novel into a manageable stage work is a daunting undertaking...This production will be richest for those who are familiar with the novel...Tucker helps make the character and scene shifts seem effortless...But it's hardly enough time to do justice to this doorstop-sized classic."
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“Thackeray's 784-page novel on love, money and social climbing has been adapted into a concise and cogent stage play by Kate Hamill, who has also given herself a magnificent role as she previously did in her Jane Austen adaptation. Director Eric Tucker has obtained the most out of his accomplished and skillful cast. This ‘Vanity Fair’ is a TKO putting a seemingly huge and unadaptable 19th-century novel front and center on the stage of the Pearl Theatre. Thackeray would be pleased.”
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“Hilarious…The ensemble cast is uniformly excellent. The male actors skillfully play multiple roles…Hamill is pitch-perfect as the feisty and flinty heroine…As a writer, Hamill has made some inspired changes to Thackeray’s novel…'Vanity Fair' isn't perfect. I could have done with less of the passing gas humor, done as a group effort—but it got laughs, so what do I know…But these are minor quibbles…A fresh, fast-paced, and wildly entertaining take.”
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