The New York Times - Recommended
"A vividly acted production...Mr. Holter has a gift for sharp characterization and crisply funny dialogue with jagged edges...Mr. Holter deftly embeds his finger-pointing in the drama itself...'Exit Strategy' takes a sentimental turn. The amorous relationship between Ricky and one of the teachers also injects a formulaic note into the proceedings. But the pungent dialogue, winning performances and Kip Fagan's streamlined direction help us overlook the small hiccups in the dramaturgy."
New York Post - Recommended
"'Exit Strategy,' a small-scaled, big-hearted and often wickedly funny play, looks at the last-ditch efforts to save a failing Chicago public school from being closed down by the city. Every character rings true, thanks to Ike Holter's spot-on, affectionate writing and an ensemble cast that's terrifically in tune...Best of all, there's no cheap sentimentality or Hollywood-like happy ending. Even so, you leave the theater buoyant. A good show will do that."
Time Out New York - Somewhat Recommended
"Holter's snappy, overlapping dialogue is often very funny...But it is also overly broad (a weakness sometimes exacerbated by Kip Fagan's direction), and it veers into sentimentality. Although 'Exit Strategy' is about activism, not education, it might be stronger if it engaged more specifically with the issues. Why is this school being closed? Why is it worth saving? The play is committed to teaching, but its lesson plan feels sketchy."
Village Voice - Recommended
"Holter's impassioned drama is in many ways about the inspiration people find in each other when the world outside offers none...He explores the community's sticky, conflicted attachment to the school itself...Such emotional force is also where, theatrically, 'Exit Strategy' occasionally falters. Holter works hard to soften this disquieting tale with humor, sometimes to a fault...It's to his credit that...he withholds a happy ending, reminding us that systemic failures are rarely reversible."
Financial Times - Not Recommended
"'Exit Strategy' could have done with some old-fashioned discipline. For the characters spend too much of the 90-minute performance shouting at each other. This is at once wearying and implausible...The play's relentless, vaguely comic vituperation also makes for an unbalanced portrayal of school life...Holter is right to eschew the inane boosterism of 'Dangerous Minds', but his own play lacks nuance too."
CurtainUp - Recommended
"Mr. Holter has ably imbued this tragic situation with humor and dramatic heft...Kip Fagan's steady direction ensures that the events unfold with sufficient tension and speed...The entire cast admirably portrays characters who could easily be sit-comish stereotypes...Despite an unavoidable tendency to come off as an inspirational message play, the smartly staged and well-acted 'Exit Strategy' is well worth a trip to the West Village."
Talkin Broadway - Not Recommended
"A predictable travelogue through the final 9 months of Tumbldn's existence, with major stops at the group's internal friction...Holter's writing still occasionally thrills...But aside from Pam and to a lesser degree Ricky, the characters are sparklingly dull, which doesn't aid the actors in making them three-dimensional...If you attend or work at a school, you might well love it with all your heart. But if you don't, an hour and a half of bland pontificating isn't enough to kindle a romance."
TheaterMania - Recommended
"A fierce and (uncomfortably) funny new play...Director Kip Fagan has crafted a highly realistic production that never has us questioning if we're really watching an inner-city public school...Holter occasionally bites off more than he can chew...Holter somewhat undermines the truthfulness of his vision by relying on some tropes of his own. Still, the overall experience is more illuminating than not and a must-see for anyone who cares about the state of public education in America."
Huffington Post - Not Recommended
"It's difficult to sympathize with the dire problems these teachers are confronting during the circus-clowns-emerging-from-a-tiny-car routines they frequently deliver. It's as if they're participating in an on-steroids 'Welcome Back, Kotter' sitcom retread...A teacher-student plot twist does fly in the face of astonished credulity, and it's not the only script turn that does...Holter manages intermittently to fight the good fight."
Theatre Reviews Limited - Highly Recommended
"Ike Holter's script is richly complex with just the right number of surprises tucked away in the well-rounded characters' Pandora's Box of authentic conflicts. Kip Fagan's staging is fast-paced, energetic, deeply engaging, and unravels each of the playwright's episodic emotion-laden salvos with subtle seduction."
Theater Pizzazz - Recommended
"We worry about the results of years of neglect on the lives of students and teachers but we're given little to consider as alternatives...As energetically directed...by Kip Fagan...an electrical current courses through the production, with its sharp blackouts and blasts of raucous music...'Exit Strategy's' not perfect but it's good enough not to need an exit strategy of your own."
Front Row Center - Highly Recommended
"Get a ticket as quickly as possible and go. Don't miss this one. It hits on every level a theater lover, novice, or even someone who doesn't really like the theater could want. Drama, got it. Comedy, check. Realism, idealism, struggle, conflict, triumph, and even romance. Ike Holter, the playwright, has written a remarkable work...There are no stereotypes. This is in no small part due to the incredible acting talent of the ensemble, each of whom gives an emotional, real performance."
Times Square Chronicles - Recommended
"This emotional drama is well acted, well directed and well thought out…The performers are all well cast, with Ms. Madigan dominating the stage with her energetic and layered character. Kip Fagan's direction is well done with each scene almost seeming like it is its own play...Mr. Holter has a lot to say about the American public school system. He is reaching a subject that needs to be addressed and leaves us with plenty of food for thought."
