"Van Dyke has created a powerful time shifting dream play with her haunting drama...Superbly realized by its highly theatrical presentation containing Nicole Ansari’s towering performance and the work of a dynamic cast...Van Dyke has the supreme confidence to offer such a dense, non-linear, and cryptic well-written work...Tiberghein mines the play’s pathos, comedy and mystery with her dazzling staging...An entrancing theatrical spectacle."
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"The script’s fluidity in time and dimension is aided by the creative hand of director Lucie Tiberghien. She often floats and twirls her actors onto the stage...More than a play, it is a rich cultural event. The mood has been wonderfully heightened by injections of music from a civilization that was all but wiped out...'Daybreak' is an admirable addition to the Pan Asian Repertory Theatre’s 41st season, fulfilling the mission to tell the stories of those seldom heard."
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"The fantastical aspect of this show is both its crown jewel and its Achilles heel. The dream space ruptures time and space...Though it is an effective storytelling mechanic and adds to the show's originality, it also introduces areas of maintenance within the script that, if not dealt with, can be risky or problematic...A work as ambitious and experimental as 'Daybreak' is bound to experience a few bugs, but in the end, it is a strong piece that...inspires confidence."
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"Difficulties arise when the dream/reality structure creates confusion about the where, when, and who of the action, including which parts are happening at the time of their enactment, and which are memories or dreams. Moreover, the conceit is hard to sustain for the 2018 scene, whose contents are more fantasy than dream…Some of the muddle could be ameliorated by a more imaginative staging…Emotionally moving…Ansari is outstanding as the proud, defiant, bitter, and maternal heroine."
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