McCarter Theatre 91 University Place Princeton, NJ March 26, 2004 - April 11, 2004 Previews began March 23, 2004.

"Perhaps best of all is the Marchbanks of Jeffrey Carlson. Shaw’s 18 year old poet is something of an impetuous fool who delivers physical comedy as he bursts into flights of passion. It is important that he not be so foolish that we do not believe that Candida could take him seriously. Confidently, Carlson provides all the laughs needed when indulging his flights of fancy. On the other hand, Carlson’s Marchbanks knows that he is giddily silly, and manages to always contain himself whenever Candida enters. Finally, as Carlson explicitly reveals his feelings about her to Candida, he moves us as his lips quiver, opening and shutting twice before he can speak. " -Bob Rendell, TalkinBroadway.com

"Carlson's boyish poet is like a manic squirrel which has suddenly discovered it's the first day of spring. He chatters and squeaks, sits or squats in an astonishing number of positions, jumps on furniture, rolls on the floor, flaps his arms, and uses his hands as though there are pesky insects constantly buzzing around his face and head." -Ted Otten, Trenton Times

Photo by T. Charles Erickson.

"[Jeffrey Carlson] so inhabits his character that he dominates the stage. He uses his lithe body as an acting tool (apparently learned at Juilliard) to buttress his mission, and achieves shading never seen before in the play." -Stuart Duncan, TimeOFF

"Mr. Carlson's animated Marchbanks is a whirlwind of sighing, languishing and expostulating in the throes of tormented, anarchic, angelic, unrequited love. With his long bedraggled hair, worn jacket, tattered fingerless gloves and brown canvas shoes, this displaced son of aristocracy seems an alien presence by the hearth in the family sitting room. His poetic soul would be more at home on the heath or in the nighttime city streets. In the hands of these two superb actors, the two foils clash dynamically. The presence of Mr. Siberry's burly liberal, middle-aged minister and the boyish, impetuous poet on stage together provides continuously high tension, crackling conflict, and surprising comic twists and turns." -Donald Gilpin, Town Topics