Mourning Becomes Electra
To watch Janis Dardaris at the end of the second act is to experience a rare kind of go for broke risk-taking.
David Anthony Fox
Philadelphia City Paper
The brilliantly complicated response of Janis Dardaris (Christine Mannon/Clytemnestra) alone is worth the price of admission.
Hugh Hunter
Chestnut Hill Local
And Janis Dardaris, in fact, made you love and hate the philandering mother Christine Mannon at the same time.
David Patrick Stearns
The Philadelphia Inquirer
The Importance of Being Earnest
In drag or not, Lady Bracknell's full force is irresistible when played with nuance and an underlying but clearly potent sting. It's at its very best whenever Dardaris is on stage. When she is in the room, she's the focus, no matter what else goes on.
Howard Shapiro
The Philadelphia Inquirer
..."with a delicious cast that includes the remarkable and acclaimed actress Janis Dardaris as Lady Bracknell..."
The Philadelphia Weekly
Becky Shaw
The mother is played with unstinting dismissive virtuosity by Janis Dardaris.
Howard Shapiro
The Philadelphia Inquirer
Dardaris is especially captivating. A veteran performer who has long been one of the area's top actors. Dardaris' stern performance as Susan marks her second Barrymore-worthy portrayal this season.
J.Cooper Robb
Philadelphia Weekly
Scorched
Aadya Bedi, Jacqueline Antaramian and Janis Dardaris portray Nawal at different stages of her life, and they're all terrific, especially Dardaris who's amazing as the elder Nawal.
J. Cooper Robb
The Philadelphia Weekly
Side Man
As Terry, Janis Dardaris turns in one of the most moving and impressive performances of the year.
Clark Groome
Chestnut Hill Local
Probably the most memorable performance is the mother, Terry, played by Janis Dardaris.
Bob Koenig
Catholic Standard and Times
Janis' multilayered performance is so good that one gets the impression she is pulling the work of the others up to her level.
Bill Hayden
Sunday News Journal
A Moon for the Misbegotten
Janis Dardaris, in a performance so profound and luminous that it's worth the cost of a ticket itself. It's enough to make a grown critic weep.
Clifford Ridley
The Philadelphia Inquirer
Dardaris gives Josie a quiet magnificence that is spellbinding
Brian Caffall
Philadelphia Weekly
Janis Dardaris's splendid performance, one you won't soon forget and the likes of which you're not likely to see again any time soon.
Clark Groome
Chestnut Hill Local
...the heartbreaking lead performance by Janis Dardaris was the season's best by a woman.
The Philadelphia Inquirer
Season's Best Picks
Quartet
Janis Dardaris slides from one persona to another with enormous confidence, her voice throaty, her accent unidentifiably European, her manner sleek, disengaged and dangerous.
Toby Zinman
Philadelphia City Paper
Dardaris is extraordinary in this intermissionless 70 minute play. One could not perform material of such frankness and intimacy without amazing concentration, skill and commitment.
Mark Cofta
Main Line Times
Escape From Happiness
The engine of the play is the sarcastic, forceful Elizabeth and Janis Dardaris charges through with breathtaking energy and astute comic timing.
Douglas Keating
The Philadelphia Inquirer
...Janis Dardaris will do something so breathtakingly right that your mind is turned around entirely.
Brian Caffall
Philadelphia Weekly
...another brilliant performance by Janis Dardaris
Reviews in Capsule
Three Sisters
But in only one performance does it achieve an emotional honesty and eloquence that matches those of the script itself. Her (Janis Dardaris) riveting performance is worth the price of admission all by itself.
Clifford Ridley
The Philadelphia Inquirer
Janis Dardaris' performance as Masha still haunts me..
Critics Picks
Janis Dardaris as Emilia, nearly steals the thunder of the bedroom scene from everyone else.
Dan Sigley
Morning Call
Janis Dardaris played Emilia with uncommon power
Back Stage
Emilia (Janis Dardaris) acted Desdemona off the stage.
Gerald Weales
Philadelphia Forum
Those Left Behind
Janis Dardaris in the role of Laura is a virtual textbook of vocal control. Her face is unreadable, but her voice creates a character who can snap from injured bewilderment to cold threat from one sentence to the next.
D.J.R. Bruckner
The New York Times
...and best of all, Janis Dardaris flamboyantly convincing as the woman at the heart of all that mystery.
Clive Barnes
The New York Post
Road
“If ever an actress was handed a terrific scene and ran with it for all she’s worth, it would have to be Janis Dardaris playing Helen, the blowzy woman who’s brought home a virtually comatose soldier from the local disco. What begins as a wildly comic sketch gradually grows darker, more affecting and finally, very sad as she attempts to seduce the man’s limp form.”
Toby Zinman
Philadelphia City Paper
Finding Donis Anne
As Rachel Janis Dardaris makes a very real, appealing character of this earthy, feisty determined woman who does what she must to survive.
Douglas Keating
The Philadelphia Inquirer
Her performance elevates this theater piece to the stature of a Faulkner novel.
Bill Royston
After Dark
A Lovely Sunday for Creve Coeur
The best performance however, belongs to Janis Dardaris as the conniving Helena.
Bill Royston
After Dark
Dardaris straddles the line between caricature and humanity as Helena, revealing glimpses of a human heart beneath her icy exterior. She convulses the audience with her withering remarks.
John Chambliss
Arts and Entertainment