SOUTHERN GOTHIC
by Leslie Liautaud, directed by David H. Bell
Windy City Playhouse
"...a Senator’s daughter named Lauren Lyon, played superbly by Erin Barlow as a fragile alcoholic, a traumatized and tremulous bundle of nerves with, as it turns out, hidden reserves of strength. If the play seems overwhelming at first – every room of the house contains simultaneous scenes with overlapping dialogue, and while the audience is free to stroll from room to room, it seems daunting at first to keep track of it all – it isn’t a bad idea to keep your eyes and ears on Lauren whenever possible and wherever in the house she happens to be."
Michael Antman, Chicago Splash
MEN ON BOATS
by Jaclyn Backhaus, directed by Will Davis
American Theater Company
"But the star of the show is Erin Barlow, whose arch delivery is at once caught up in all the excitement, as her Frank Goodman would surely have been, and dripping with ever-morphing irony at the absurdity of the entire enterprise."
Chris Jones, Chicago Tribune
THE SECRETARIES
by The Five Lesbian Brothers, directed by Bonnie Metzgar
About Face Theatre
"Barlow, who takes a deep dive into all the motel sex and woodsy bloodshed, is a good deal better than solid. Hilarious, at times."
Chris Jones, Chicago Tribune
"Metzgar's gleefully committed cast... is near ideal."
Kris Vire, TimeOut Chicago
"This cast goes from one end of the comedic spectrum to the other at the drop of a flannel cap... the women of “The Secretaries” are individually excellent, nimbly balancing humor and heart."
Kevin Greene, NewCity
FULFILLMENT
by Thomas Bradshaw, directed by Ethan McSweeny
American Theater Company
"[Barlow is] unstintingly intimidating, which is a good thing."
Chris Jones, Chicago Tribune
"A bone-chilling and deliciously intense Erin Barlow"
Rachel Weinberg, BroadwayWorld
"Moore and Barlow are exceptionally open and connected with each other... the degree of difficulty here is steep, but Moore and Barlow make it work and are a sensational pairing."
Tom Lawler, The Fourth Walsh
THREE SISTERS
adapted and directed by Geoff Button
The Hypocrites
"Erin Barlow's razor-edged Natasha turns the "townie" who captures the heart and steals the soul of Andrei (Joel Ewing), the hapless could've-been-a-professor brother of the title characters, into pure poison...And though she plays the shrew card effectively, Barlow too shows us flashes of a Natasha who wants to be accepted by her new family, yet knows that they will always find her wanting."
Kerry Reid, Chicago Tribune
"It's Erin Barlow, though, who offers a revelation as Andrei's wife, Natasha. The character is usually played as merely uncouth; Barlow makes her mean, canny, grasping, and manipulative as well, and so becomes the dynamic center of the show, spreading her color palette wherever she goes."
Tony Adler, Chicago Reader
ALL OUR TRAGIC
written and directed by Sean Graney
The Hypocrites
"Erin Barlow's wholly first-rate Antigone... 'All Our Tragic' is, in totem, a watershed moment for off-Loop theater. By whatever alchemy, it serves the greatest collection of stories ever written — adds to them, modernizes them, makes them feel fresh, forces you to see them both strange and familiar. You know, serves them."
Chris Jones, The Chicago Tribune
"The acting is solid throughout and in some cases exceptional... Erin Barlow's luminous, unbowed Antigone."
Barbara Vitello, The Daily Herald
Chicago Tribune video: Erin performing a speech from All Our Tragic
2015 Equity Joseph Jefferson Citations: Best Ensemble and Best Production of a Play - Midsize
THE WHALE
by Samuel D. Hunter, directed by Melissa Livingston-Weaver
A Chick & A Dude Productions
"An all-around first-rate ensemble... As Charlie’s caretaker Liz, Erin Barlow skillfully balances her loving compassion with sharp-tongued frustration"
Cate Blouke, Austin-American Statesman
"The whole cast gives truly strong, high-caliber performances"
Adam Roberts, The Austin Chronicle
2014 Austin Critics' Table Nomination: Best Production of a Play
MAD BEAT HIP & GONE
written and directed by Steven Dietz
ZACH Theatre
"A cast of some of the most talented and capable actors, young and older, that this town has to offer... Erin Barlow is pale, hip, dreamy"
Michael Miegs, Central Texas Live Theatre
"Erin Barlow is fantastic as the energetic but mysterious Honey... Mad Beat Hip and Gone showcases some of the best performances and the most stunning designs you're bound to see in Austin."
Jeff Davis, Broadway World Austin
THE CATARACT
by Lisa D'Amour, directed by Will Davis
The University of Texas at Austin (Guest Artist)
"Thoughtfully, purposefully crafted – words, action, and design coalesce into something complete. Director Will Davis sculpts a stylized world that gently cradles the script's complexity. With the director's keen eye and the cast's fine performances, we empathize with the foursome at their most naturalistic – the women giggling as they share secrets, the men guffawing over beers at the saloon – and feel far away indeed in their strangeness – narrating their days, staring out the fourth wall, pulling flowers out of their eyes."
Jillian Owens, The Austin Chronicle
"With her fiery red hair and buttoned-up yearning, Erin Barlow’s sharp and refined Lottie is hard to look away from."
Clare Canavan, Austin American-Statesman
SOPHOCLES: SEVEN SICKNESSES
written and directed by Sean Graney
The Hypocrites
"Gripping, gutsy performances from three superb young actresses: Erin Barlow, Tien Doman and Lindsey Gavel. They split up the famous Sophocles roles between them and, throughout the entire duration of the event, they're all on fire. Barlow's Jocasta is especially fascinating: any good production of "Oedipus" makes you wonder what Jocasta knows and when she found it out, and so it goes here. Similarly, Barlow's Antigone is the kind of determined creature who would terrify any king, especially Zeke Sulkes' hapless Creon."
Chris Jones, Chicago Tribune (review)
"Any Sophocles show is toast without actresses who can play his famously incendiary women. Remarkable, Graney has found not one such woman but three: Erin Barlow, Tien Doman and Lindsey Gavel. And that's just as well, because Graney has to cover the likes of Antigone, Ismene, Elektra and Jocasta. One killer performance would not be enough. It's hard to say which of these women is the best; they all power through the texts with such relentless force and vocal power that you find yourself sitting bolt upright whenever they show up. These young, non-Equity performers are not familiar names yet. But if their collective work here does not attract attention, then Oedipus should be able to marry his mom with impunity."
Chris Jones, Chicago Tribune (editorial)
2012 Non-Equity Joseph Jefferson Award, Best Production of a Play
2012 Non-Equity Joseph Jefferson Nomination, Best Ensemble
NO EXIT
by Jean-Paul Sartre, directed by Sean Graney
The Hypocrites
"Erin Barlow (who plays Estelle), Samantha Gleisten (Inez) and Robert McLean (Garcin) make quite the engaging trifecta of deceased sinners, revealing each other’s transgressions (and their own flesh) and driving each other crazy in their little box."
Chris Jones, Chicago Tribune
RED ANGEL
by Eric Bogosian, directed by Joshua Aaron Weinstein
LiveWire Chicago Theatre
"In terms of pure acting, this LiveWire Chicago Theatre production has it nailed... Barlow, both wily and willowy, is opaque in her intentions, but her emptiness is the first thing you notice. She is killing time maybe, creating a story to pack away for future reference. She is stalker of fame and experience. She is a person who can't quite see beyond herself. But then again, neither can he. It doesn't matter -- sometimes you need the touch of another person's body just to prove that you're alive."
Nina Metz, Chicago Tribune
"Wilson and Barlow blow the doors off the more incendiary moments without ever losing their grip on the engrossing interplay of competition, passion, and power threaded throughout the narrative"
Kerry Reid, Chicago Reader
"As Leena, Barlow offers an austere sexuality perfectly tailored to her inamorato’s scholarly tastes"
Christopher Shea, Time Out Chicago
Best of Fringe 2008 - Honorable Mention, Chicago Tribune
Top 5 Female Performances in NewCity's Top 5 of Everything 2008