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What critics have to say about Diana Cherkas

The Unfortunates New York premiere in the FringeNYC _____________________________________

"a haunting one-woman show... Ms. Cherkas’s performance, directed by Ryan Scott Whinnem, is well paced and assured."
Andy Webster, The New York Times
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"performed by the compelling Diana Cherkas... Cherkas's beat-perfect timing... The Unfortunates achieves a rare combination of pathos and humor"
Time Out New York
Critic's Pick - 4 stars
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"BOTTOM LINE: This gripping portrayal of Mary Jane Kelly, Jack the Ripper’s final victim, is as relevant today as ever... Cherkas’s portrayal of Mary is stellar."
Greg Solomon, Theare Is Easy
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"Diana Cherkas leaves no part of Mary Kelly’s core concealed. Ms. Cherkas’ performance is pure authenticity and honed honesty. This is an actor who knows her craft and knows how to engage an audience. She knows how to be vulnerable and how to build suspense. She is transparent when necessary and steely when her character needs a retreat into sanctuary.”
David Roberts, Theatre Reviews Limited
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"Diana Cherkas plays Mary Jane Kelly wonderfully as she theatrically perfected the sorrow, distress and few moments of happiness that a person of the ‘unfortunates’ class holds. But she also plays the roles of many others which makes her performance as great as it was. She captures the trashy drunkenness of one of her fellow prostitutes who’s missing her front two teeth and makes up pity stories to get men to sleep with her. She captures the classy, sophisticated – and quite comical – aura of one of her clients who’s known around the town for his high position yet asks Mary Jane to engage in the act of riding him around like a clydesdale while wearing old farm boots. Cherkas’ exaggerated facial expressions and easy transitions between two very different characters made The Unfortunates feel as if it weren’t a one-woman show."
Alexis Yoo, StageBuddy
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My Little Demon ________________________________________________________________

"Two strong female leads [Diana Cherkas and Ali Stover] fuel this riveting psychological duel and tale of the macabre."
Michael J. Kawa, Buffalo Niagara Film Festival
BNFF Winner – Most Innovative Acting

 

The Unfortunates World Premiere at Centenary Stage Company _____________________________

"It is an hour and a half of theater that is not to be missed!...In the role of Mary Jane Kelly, played masterfully by Diana Cherkas...Cherkas's tour de force performance lets us picture Victorian mores, hypocrisy and debauchery."
Ruth Ross, NJ Arts Maven
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"Playing the 25 year old Mary, and all the other parts, is the amazingly talented actress, Diana Cherkas. Cherkas...masterfully commands the attention of the audience while assuming these roles with a variety of surprisingly easy to understand cockney accents."
Rick Busciglio, Examiner
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Loose Knit ______________________________________________

"Diana Cherkas enhances Liz's tart nature through her own Bebe-Neuwirth-mixed-with-Bea-Arthur sensibility."
Peter Filichia, Star Ledger
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"The lovely and deftly comedic Diana Cherkas portrays Liz with a verve and sparkle that belies the false notion that being strong and dominant need compromise a woman's feminine appeal."
- Bob Rendell, Talking Broadway
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"The performances are uniformly excellent, with...Cherkas having scene-stealing turns."
- Sheila Abrams, Recorder Newspapers
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Modern Love is Automatic _________________________________

"Diana Cherkas...stands out as Emily, Lorraine’s co-worker with a seemingly picture perfect partner. You could imagine "Going to the Chapel" playing in her scenes as she gushes about her saccharine sweet fiance. Clark allows her to have a substantial scene later in the film that allows Emily to transcend the two-dimensional character her type would usually be in lesser films."
- Adam Sweeney, FilmSchoolRejects
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A Laughing Matter
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"Diana Cherkas is so distinctive as a foul-mouthed actress, and then a modest maiden, that it's not hard to assume that different women are playing the parts."
- Peter Filichia, Star-Ledger Staff
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Haunted House
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"Not for a minute could we see Cherkas's nerd-chic Lucy as anything less than fully fleshed, from the way she melts into the giddy joy of feeling thirteen again, to the way she battles her impulses to try and find what she really wants."
- Aaron Riccio, New Theater Corps
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All's Well That Ends Well
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"Diana Cherkas as Diana...works her feminine wiles to great comedic effect."
- James Howard, Broadwayworld.com
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Rough Magic
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"Diana Cherkas [is] wickedly malevolent..."
- Rich See, Curtainup.com
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Musical Comedy Murders of 1940
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"...Diana Cherkas has a look that may remind playgoers of Bebe Neuwirth, but she has much more warmth, and she displays it effectively."
- Peter Filichia, Star-Ledger Staff
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Love's Labors Lost
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"...as Rosaline, Diana Cherkas delivers a beguiling performance...She, too, has created a full woman – fierce and strong..."
- James Howard, Broadwayworld.com
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"Diana Cherkas imbues Rosaline with the chilly grace of a supermodel."
- Anthony Sclafani, Columbia Flier


Variations on Desire
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"Diana Cherkas's characters have a restrained, mysterious note."
- John Barry, City Paper
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