"CRITIC'S CHOICE  Ivanov, the play in which Anton Chekhov was still testing the formula for his dramatic breakthrough, is usually revived in somberly autumnal shades. So the opportunity to see the play thrillingly brought to life in brazen color, courtesy of director Bart DeLorenzo, is one that no serious aficionado of modern classics should pass up.

A co-production between DeLorenzo's the Evidence Room and the Odyssey Theatre, where the show opened last weekend, this deliciously vivid, deliriously accelerated staging respects both the gravity and gaiety of Chekhov's 1889 play (nimbly translated by Paul Schmidt). Equally enticing, a stylistically synchronized cast, led by Barry Del Sherman in the melancholy title role, reveals just how deep Los Angeles' acting bench is."  

--- Charles McNulty, Los Angeles Times