Steppenwolf Theatre Company - 2025

“Neff is as superb as ever. She brings an absolute honesty to May’s blatantly competing impulses towards Eddie and the range of emotions he brings out in her. Those aren’t just love and hate; that’s too easy.”
- Chicago Sun Times

“Caroline Neff and Nick Gehlfuss more than meet this challenge, as their very physical and organic performances capture the eye like a train wreck.”
- Newcity Stage

“Neff as May imbues the character with an oddly appropriate combination of feral frustration and even-headed coolness. She jumps between the two, oscillating emotionally with a show whose intensity is relentless but varied.”
- Third Coast Review

Steppenwolf Theatre Company - 2023

“Caroline Neff plays Stephanie who does some very special things that will have you falling out of your theater seat. Her energy is amazing!”
- Around the Town Chicago

“…key cast members are presidential secretary Stephanie (Caroline Neff, countering her prim character’s career ambition with some zealous clowning and naked abandon)”
- Third Coast Review

“The smart comedy plunges into full-fledged lampoon. Leading the buffoonery is an effervescent Chloe Baldwin, a wacky Caroline Neff and the hot mess of a sister Meighan Gerachis.”
- The Fourth Walsh

Steppenwolf Theatre Company - 2023

“Neff has a way of becoming the focal point of her scenes, even when she’s only a supporting character. There’s something incredibly watchable about her portrayal of a ditzy, unintentional homewrecker. The scene she shares with Judy Greer near the end is the highlight of the entire play. It also shows off some of Arrington’s best segments of dialogue.”
- Buzz Center Stage

“There’s also Caroline Neff’s Macassidy, assistant to Nick’s literary agent who becomes much more. Neff’s capacity for offhanded honesty is put to great use here…”
- Chicago Reader

“It was also intriguing to see Neff as Mccassidy; I likewise view her as a generally grounded performer, but Mccassidy is often effusive. Neff effectively portrays Mccassidy’s enthusiasm, but the fact that she doesn’t tip over into full-blown exuberance adds depth to the character.”
- Broadway World

Steppenwolf Theatre Company - 2023

“...The women in this production are superb, …Caroline Neff as Mariya (the journalist who decades after Babel’s death unexpectedly becomes the recipient of the writer’s diary by way of a young Polish car rental salesman played by Jack Cain);…”

- WTTW

Steppenwolf Theatre Company - 2022

“The notable performances in Seagull are by Smallwood as the soulful writer, as well as Neff, Strus and Slotnick.”
- Third Coast Review

“We can almost believe that Neff’s Nina, even with all her vulnerabilities, will somehow find a way to get by, even if it means selling out her own values.”
- Chicago Reader

Steppenwolf Theatre Company - 2020

“Caroline Neff as Zuzu and Karen Rodriguez as Amina give warm and emotional performances.”
- Third Coast Review

“Neff and Rodriguez channel early adolescent mannerisms and its intensity so well, it conjured some uncomfortable memories for this viewer.”
- Picture This Post

The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts - 2019

“Caroline Neff's Laurel is the perfect blend of selfish and caring, and her handling of the fallout of Jim's and her own infidelities is beautifully emotional.”
- Broadway World

“In a riveting play through which flow powerful and complex themes of love, forgiveness, and racism, Linder has created in Laurel a role for the ages. She is a character of humble status whose resilience and moral stature rank with theater’s greatest heroines. And Caroline Neff’s performance in the role is indelible.”
- DC Metro Theatre Arts

“Evan Linder’s comedy-drama is nicely composed and acted, especially by Caroline Neff as Laurel, a pregnant schoolteacher”
- Washington Post

“In a uniformly top-notch cast, Caroline Neff stands out as Laurel, believably bringing to life a strong but vulnerable, rough yet refined heroine.”
- Washington Blade

Merrimack Repertory Theatre - 2019

“Neff is this play’s best weapon, a dose of vivacious reality every time she appears.”
- Boston Globe

"Neff and Chum (who plays a handful of roles) are the most vibrant and enjoyable to watch”
- Broadway World

Steppenwolf for Young Adults - 2018

"How would Christopher’s story work? Well, thanks to the shining performance of Caroline Neff as Siobhan, Christopher’s schoolteacher, I needn’t have worried. … If only all children, regardless of their disabilities or lack thereof, could have as loving and caring a teacher as the one Neff has created.”
- Buzz Center Stage

Victory Gardens Theater - 2018

JEFF AWARD WINNER
Equity Actor in a Principal Role - Play

"Caroline Neff shows again in the role Lettie that she is quickly becoming one of Chicago's finest actresses. She really carries it off.”
- Buzz Center Stage

“…Sometimes a role fits an actor so seamlessly it feels as if it were written specifically for them. That's the case with Caroline Neff and Lettie, now in a gripping world premiere at Victory Gardens. In the title role, playing a woman released from prison after seven years on drug trafficking charges, Neff's signature blend of deadpan wit and raw vulnerability reveals layer after layer of Lettie's damaged-yet-defiant psyche as she attempts to go straight and win back the love of her teenage children.”
- Windy City Times

“Yes, “Lettie” tells a glum story but Killebrew’s language is spot on, delivered without compromise by Caroline Neff triumphantly leading an impeccable ensemble.”
-Chicagoland Theatre Reviews

Steppenwolf Theatre Company - 2018

"…there are many moving scenes, some beautifully acted conversations between Neff’s Mae and Guinan’s Dad that will touch you…”
- Chicago Tribune

Steppenwolf Theatre Company - 2017
at Mark Taper Forum, LA - 2019
at Helen Hayes Theatre, NY - 2019

Goodman Theatre - 2017

"Chekhov has a knack for dynamic female characters. "Uncle Vanya" is no exception. Caroline Neff's performance as Sonya sneakily becomes the focal point. Neff infuses Baker's already modern dialogue with an almost tangible sense of emotion.”
- Buzz Center Stage

Steep Theatre Company - 2016

"…the act features the incendiary Caroline Neff in the role of the representative, and as is usual in a production featuring the remarkably talented Neff, her acting alone warrants a visit to Steep's show. With an accent as thick as the London fog, thick heeled boots that create echoes through the small venue, and hand gestures of startling violence, the diminutive Neff creates an enormously threatening presence, one that believably has Moore - who is at least a foot taller - cowering in fear. It's remarkable theater, and only furthers Neff's already considerable talents.”
- Chicago Theatre

Steppenwolf - 2016

"Caroline Neff as the alt-chic Rose is hilarious and heartbreaking.”
- Buzz Center Stage

Yale Repertory Theatre - 2015

Steppenwolf - 2014
Manhattan Theatre Club - 2015

“Most of the acting is quite fine with the likes of Scott Jaeck and Caroline Neff capturing the fragility of the souls they play.”
- Chicago Tribune

Route 66 Theatre Company – 2014

“Barrie and Neff are credible as sisters but they simultaneously read as binary opposites, which serves the play. Both of these fine actresses are on fire here - you don't normally get such an intense emotional current bubbling under what's otherwise a commercial thriller.”
– Chicago Tribune

“…Neff and Barrie connect as Hazel and Robin; a painful intimacy exists between them, an unhealthy dependence on one another that stays alive on stage every moment.” 
– Time Out Chicago

Steppenwolf Theatre – 2014

“Meesh (Caroline Neff, spot-on as the tough, junk food-devouring twentysomething with a vestige of pioneer rawness)” 
– Sun TImes

“Caroline Neff brings a nice, understated manipulativeness to Meesh, giving us casual indications that she’s not as stupid as her Daisy Maes might suggest” 
– Chicago Reader

Steppenwolf Theatre – 2013

“Nabers’ central character (played by Caroline Neff with a potent mix of bravado and pain) [is] very moving and involving”  
– Chicago Tribune

Steep Theatre Company – 2013

“Zoe is, to a large extent, an inept mess. But thanks in no small measure to Neff’s moving performance, Zoe remains a deeply sympathetic character in this piece, a piece that not only charts why teaching is so very, very hard in these circumstances but is honest about the malevolence of young people.” 
– Chicago Tribune

” it’s greatly pleasing to see Caroline Neff play one of the adults in the room for once. The compelling actress, with her petite stature, round face and distinctive mane of thick blond curls, is so often onstage as a youngster …fine performances in Jonathan Berry’s smartly staged production, particularly and unsurprisingly Neff’s, make The Knowledge worth picking up.” 
– Timeout Chicago

Greenhouse Theatre Company – 2013

“the always wonderful Neff gives Sammy a wounded strength”
– Chicago Theatre Beat

Northlight Theatre – 2013

“Bec — played by Caroline Neff with the kind of witheringly intellectual self-righteousness that put me in mind of any number of people I once dated myself” 
– Chicago Tribune

“Bec (the always vivid Caroline Neff), a student at NYU, has not been welcoming.”
– Sun Times

Strawdog Theatre Company - 2012

“Neff is one of the best young actresses in Chicago” 
– Chicago Tribune

“In particular, it makes room for a thrilling performance from Caroline Neff, who transforms wanderlustful bar gal Gabby into a full-blooded character yearning for stimulation, sophistication and escape.” 
– Timeout Chicago

Steppenwolf Theatre – 2012

“And there is something about the way Letts translates Irina, the youngest of the sisters, played by Caroline Neff, that somehow makes her more self-aware and wise than typically is the case. Especially when it comes to her figuring out that the sisters’ collective problem is not the elusiveness of happiness, but their inability to embrace fully anything other than its absence.” 
– Chicago Tribune

“Ora Jones, Carrie Coon and Caroline Neff each deliver fine performances as the titular trio. Neff in particular opens up beautifully in her first turn on the big stage, her Irina balancing pensiveness with a spark of optimism that, in the play’s final moments, is tragically snuffed.” 
– Timeout Chicago

Steep Theatre Company – 2012

“All of this office banality, though played with precision comic timing by Roy and Neff, goes on long enough that when we get our first clue about what kind of work this office actually does, the sudden realization is jarring.” 
– Timeout Chicago

“Both Neff, whose work is rich, and Esposito, who brings the right note of sadness, are careful to underplay their roles, adding nicely to sense of unease coaxed to the fore by the shrewdly generic.” 
– Chicago Tribune

Steep Theatre Company – 2011

“Caroline Neff, who plays the dumpee who sees it coming, as dumpees so often do, offers a truly blistering and pitch-perfect take on a young teacher who knows her chance of happiness is about to clear off to a posh school in the countryside, leaving her in the urban dust. It is so very sad a scene. ”  
– Chicago Tribune

“The play’s first scene is in many ways the best and most devastating. It features the enormously talented and fearless young actress Caroline Neff as Helen”
– Chicago Sun TImes

Steep Theatre Company – 2011

“Each and every last performance from this nine-member cast feels utterly authentic. And in several cases — the work done by Kendra Thulin, Caroline Neff and Michael Salinas, to name just three examples in a superb young ensemble — the characters not only feel credibly British, they are realized with jolting, full-throated intensity”  
– Chicago Tribune

Steppenwolf Garage – 2011

“By far the strongest of the three shows is Brad Akin’s blistering production of Where We’re Born…Akin’s production is visceral, volatile, violent—a throwback to the sort of work that earned Steppenwolf a reputation more than 30 years ago. If this is the future, it looks a lot like the past.” 
– The Reader

Next Theatre – 2011

“… and, most crucially, by Edith’s niece and ward, Vera Dundee (the bristling, poignant, ever bravura Caroline Neff” 
– Sun Times

Griffin Theatre – 2011

“From early on it also is abundantly clear that Caroline Neff, the young actress who portrays Racheal in Griffin Theatre’s emotionally searing U.S. premiere of the play, deserves to be catapulted into the star category herself.” 
– Sun Times

Steep Theatre Company – 2010 

JEFF AWARD WINNER
Non-Equity Actress in a Principal Role - Play

“...What holds everything together in Joanie Schultz’s searing production … is Neff’s gutsy, almost febrile performance as Charlotte. Tasked with playing a character who’s unattractive in both appearance and personality, Neff turns the girl into a compelling, volatile bundle of raw, grasping adolescent need.”
- Time Out Chicago

“...Caroline Neff gave a strong performance as Charlotte. We see both her innocent painful side as well as her naughty vicious side. Neff never flinches as she gave a scary look into teenage grief and the search for acceptance. Neff’s performance makes this show worth seeing.”
- ChicagoCritic

Steep Theatre Company – 2009 

JEFF AWARD WINNER
Non-Equity Ensemble - Play