"It is plain a cataclysm has occurred outside the makeshift classroom in Catherine Trieschmann’s recent play “How the World Began” at the Penguin Rep Theater. Exposed flooring and splintering posts frame James J. Fenton’s troubling set with allusions to devastation, and the back windows look out on a blasted tree amid an incongruous stand of grain…" -Sylviane Gold for the New York Times

“The splendid performances get first-rate support, as always at Penguin, from an excellent design team. Kalere A. Payton has provided costumes that look exactly right for these characters. The relentless wind and other sounds swirling around Mr. Fenton’s jury-rigged schoolroom are the work of Elisheba Ittoop. And Todd O. Wren has designed a lighting scheme that bathes the proceedings in both a fluorescent glare and a cosmic glow.” – Sylviane Gold for the New York Times

"Penguin Rep’s carefully designed, wonderfully acted staging makes for thought-provoking entertainment...both Todd Wren’s lighting and James Fenton’s set artfully combine realistic and surreal elements." - John P. McCarthy for the Journal News (LoHud.com)

"It is plain a cataclysm has occurred outside the makeshift classroom in Catherine Trieschmann’s recent play “How the World Began” at the Penguin Rep Theater. Exposed flooring and splintering posts frame James J. Fenton’s troubling set with allusions to devastation, and the back windows look out on a blasted tree amid an incongruous stand of grain..." -Sylviane Gold for the New York Times