Selected Quotes from Acting Reviews
“The star of this show, though, is Barbara Zahora as Lady Bracknell, who brings the show back into a consistent reality…I’ve never seen a Lady Bracknell who pulls off a conspiratorial wink exposing a surprising self-awareness. I would not have thought it would work, but in Zahora’s hands it does. Lady Bracknell, you see, is more complicated than she appears.” – Steven Oxman for The Chicago Sun-Times, Review: Oak Park’s Outdoor Theatre Series Aces Acting, July 15, 2026
“It’s the female leads that give “Winter’s Tale” its oomph, and Rebecca Swislow as the wronged Hermione and Barbara Zahora (who also serves as the troupe’s artistic director) as gadfly courtier Paulina, deliver strong, highly-charged performances, radiating a moral confidence and clarity that are equal and opposite to Leontes’ brutal, pigheaded selfishness.” – Hugh Iglarsh, Magical Realism, Shakespeare-Style: A Review of The Winter’s Tale at Oak Park Festival Theatre, July 22, 2022
“Ultimately, this play finds forgiveness for pretty much everyone, though Barbara Zahora’s protofeminist Paulina makes sure Leontes knows that no one will ever forget what he has done. (Zahora is so good here that she practically takes over the play in parts.)” – Karen Topham, Oak Park’s The Winter’s Tale proves to be a perfect choice for this era, July 20, 2022
“Veteran ShawChicago actress, Barbara Zahora, explodes upon the stage in every scene as Catherine, Major Petkoff’s status-conscious wife. Full of fire and finesse, Ms. Zahora is nicely balanced by Callie Johnson as her spunky daughter Raina.” – Colin Douglas, Arms and the Man at ShawChicago, Chicago Theatre Review, February 7, 2019
“As aspiring novelist/painter/playwright Penny Sycamore, Barbara Zahora is a delightfully daffy mother hen…”- Catey Sullivan, You Can’t Take it With You at Oak Park Festival Theatre, The Chicago Sun-Times, June 19, 2018
“In the title role, Barbara Zahora is a refined, but spirited and well-spoken young lady. She brings to this production a passion for the principles for which Major Barbara stands, but it’s in her character’s surprising about-face scene that the actress truly shines.” – Colin Douglas, Damn The Torpedos: Major Barbara at ShawChicago for Chicago Theatre Review, May 2, 2015
“Zahora (Mrs. Page) plays cozy-comfortable blue-collar mother and later youthful, flirty actress. Her continuous transformation onstage is amazing. Zahora compellingly describes the bittersweet life of a staged actress. The poignancy of her words captivate the audience and Alexander, her wannabe beau. Who is this woman? Zahora is exceptional…” – Katy Walsh, Jame’s Barrie’s Quartets at ShawChicago, Chicago Theater Beat, April 13, 2013
Selected Quotes from Directing Reviews:
THE TEMPEST, Oak Park Festival Theatre
“Barbara Zahora, the director and a thoroughly educated expert in the works of Shakespeare, retains the authenticity of The Tempest while adding slight pieces of modernity, humor, and ambiguity to keep things active and relatable.”- Rachel Robbins, Chicago Theatre Review, July 19, 2021
“Like the best Shakespeare productions, the fine cast and direction do seem to translate the Elizabethan tongue to our here and now so well that you too might find your mind hearing lines in the vernacular of today. Did Prospero just tell his daughter to hey, just get over it? Did that daughter, Miranda (Deanalis Resto), do the verbal equivalent of a teen eye roll as she said give me a break Dad, he’s only the third male I’ve seen my whole life!?” – Amy Munice, Picture This Post, July 18, 2021
ELIZABETH REX, Oak Park Festival Theatre
“The 45th season of Oak Park Festival Theatre opened this week with a stunning production of the beautiful, many-layered modern play, Elizabeth Rex, a witty and poignant two-act work by Canadian playwright Timothy Findley. Strongly directed by Barbara Zahora, the play is totally in period and inspired by historic reality, but it also covers topics of gender and sexuality, which are not often associated with the Elizabethan era. It’s quite fascinating.” – Doug Deuschler, The Wednesday Journal, June 18, 2019
MACBETH, Oak Park Festival Theatre
“But as director Barbara Zahora’s outdoor staging for Oak Park Festival Theatre hints at, Macbeth operates in a gray zone between fate and free will. In Zahora’s concept, the “weird sisters” also operate as minor characters who change the course of action a time or two. For example, one serves as the maidservant who brings Lady Macbeth the letter from her lord, informing her of the witches’ prophecies and thus igniting Lady M’s own deadly ambitious schemes.
Most notably, the witches also play Banquo’s murderers, and make a clear choice to allow his son, Fleance, to escape. (Banquo, of course, is the one who receives the prophecy that “Thou shall get kings, though thou be none” — which causes the childless Macbeth to add Fleance to the hit list in the first place.)… So we’re left with the arresting question of whether Macbeth is the plaything of malevolent supernatural forces, or if his own inability to reflect until too late upon the moral dimensions of his bloody deeds drives the action. That Zahora’s production doesn’t come down firmly on one side or another isn’t a failing — rather, it provides some intriguing points to ponder in an otherwise straightforward and thoughtful staging.” – Kerry Reid, Chicago Tribune, July 2, 2017
“This famous play’s eerie, diabolical tone is strongest in its night-time scenes, and in the production directed by Barbara Zahora, the striking effect of those sequences makes the whole endeavor uniquely memorable.
Two things are quickly evident once the action begins… Zahora has staged the inciting battle between Macbeth and a rebel who has “the multiplying villainies of nature” swarming on him while the incident is described by other characters, keeping our attention focused on this foreshadowing of Macbeth’s own fate. The other thing is that Macbeth, as interpreted by Matthew Fahey, is a man who takes calculated risks, but always looks to his own security and advantage. (Interestingly, he uses a pole weapon and dagger combo instead of a sword.) Audiences this season are particularly primed now to hear his line “I have bought golden opinions from all sorts of people.” Fahey just lets that be what it is, but it’s clearer to observers now how the seeds of what Macbeth becomes were there from the beginning… It’s very clever how Zahora found textual basis for this and the witches’ other appearances throughout the show, which add a palpable sense of menace to them…” – Jacob Davis, Around The Town Chicago, June 15, 2017
“Barbara Zahora’s taut and skillful direction focuses attention on the language of the play, and beautifully finds the moments of humor that allow a release from the more tense moments in the action.” – Elizabeth Ellis, PerformInk, June 26, 2017
SHREWISH, Artemisia Theatre
“With “Shrewish,” director Barbara Zahora turns the play’s innate misogyny on its head. The show begins with a group of…well it’s not exactly clear. They could be fairies (à la “Midsummer Night’s Dream”) or they could be witches (à la “Macbeth”). Whatever they are, they are a group of women who can do some serious magic. After one of them (Savanna Rae) goes on a date with a douchey, self-obsessed bro (Dan Wilson), the group decides to show this man what it’s really like to be a woman. And voila! The bro finds himself playing the role of Kate. This is no longer a play about a woman being tamed but of a man learning how all women have to play “the game.” And more importantly, it’s about women getting to take charge.” – Alex Huntsberger, New City Stage, November 10, 2016
“There are very few shows that are as problematic or uncomfortable to watch from a woman’s perspective as THE TAMING OF A SHREW. The piece provides an antiquated yet all too familiar plot of a woman who is forced into believing opinions that are not her own and acting against her will to survive in a society run by men. However, when the show is framed as a lesson and used to reveal women’s experiences to others, it becomes a piece about change: what has happened, and what should not happen anymore. This is Artemisia’s goal in their new production SHREWISH a gender bent retelling of the Shakespearean classic that includes sassy prose along with its eloquent iambic pentameter, all couched in the story of five women attempting to get a former-frat-boy-like man to understand their daily struggles. Adapted and directed by Barbara Zahora, SHREWISH is admirable in its idea, and enjoyable in its execution…” – Haley Slamon, PerformInk, November 11, 2016
PRIVATE LIVES, ShawChicago
“This time around Artistic Director Bob Scogin has offered the directorial reins to guest director, Barbara Zahora. Ms. Zahora, who’s demonstrated her theatrical talent all over Chicago, recently appeared in the title role of ShawChicago’s “Major Barbara.” Ms. Zahora’s done a wonderful job with a cast that includes favorites Mary Michell, as Amanda, Michael Lasswell as Elyot, Leslie Ann Handelman as Sybil, Doug MacKechnie as Victor and Lydia Berger Gray as Louise. Every word, every syllable, every raised eyebrow and condescending glare is exactly as Coward intended.” – Colin Douglas, Chicago Theatre Review, November 26, 2015