• “'Not all the water in the rough rude sea / Can wash the balm off from an anointed king.' - Act III, Scene 2. But how, 400 plus years down the road, are we to grasp the influence of this article of faith on Elizabethan consciousness? The answer is in the performance, which, in this case, Chip Persons delivers with such passion and conviction that we are forced to reconsider the importance of this play not only among the histories, but the tragedies as well. Persons' command of the text, as the sitting and deposed king, is regal, yet visceral — his scansion so completely natural that we forget it is written in blank verse. One cannot imagine the case for Elizabeth's right to rule being put any better, not only by Richard's (and Persons') eloquence, but by the chaos that follows the overthrow of this thoughtful rule, with Henry Bolingbroke (Steven Cole Hughes) treasonously forcing Richard's deposition (albeit, after Richard has seized Bolingbroke's inherited lands), precipitating the War of the Roses, which followed.”

    — Bob Bows, ColoradoDrama.com

    Richard II at Colorado Shakespeare Festival;

  • “Last night, as I was leaving ‘Macbeth,’ I wondered, ‘When was the last time the Colorado Shakespeare Festival surprised and shocked me? Like … to the core?’ That, I can tell you … It was Chip Persons’ ‘Richard III’ in 2002. But that discombobulation was born from the mastery of the performance. This was born from the mastery of the performances combined with an abrupt, confrontational interjection on the real horror of war, and our still miserably current place in it.”

    — John Moore, CultureWest.org

    Macbeth at Colorado Shakespeare Festival

  • “The production's greatest asset is Chip Persons, a nimble performer who plays a droll Lucifer in flashback and a melancholy Vlad the Impaler in the lounge sequence, in which he laments having his dastardly legacy and accent co-opted by Bela Lugosi's fictional Dracula.”

    — Mitch Montgomery, Backstage

    Hell: Paradise Found at 59E59

  • “All of the actors in BETC's show are terrific, beginning with Persons, who is an excellent Wilde. At first, he's all charm, confidence, wit and charisma. As the trials drag on, Persons' Wilde begins to shows the anguish until he's a defeated man.”

    — Mark Collins, Boulder Daily Camera

    Gross Indecency: The Three Trials of Oscar Wilde at Boulder Ensemble Theatre Company

  • “Persons brought a constant energy and sense of immediacy to Bryson's childhood recollections, memories rooted in the budding atomic age and its technological marvels. From describing a child's over-the-top superhero outfit to cataloging the breadth of new gizmos available to Americans in the 1950s, Persons created a compelling historical portrait.”

    — A.H. Goldstein, Westword

    “The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid” at Stories on Stage

  • “Persons' impeccably maintained dour visage is a mask worthy of commedia dell'arte, a favorite conceit of the Bard. His catharsis in the last scene delivers the redemptive message of the play.”

    — Bob Bows, Denver Post

    Measure for Measure at Colorado Shakespeare Festival

  • “Chip Persons is especially compelling as an educated commoner called Master Rich who is decidedly not and uses every trick in the book to advance himself...with success. A man for all reasons you would love to hate.”

    — Beki Pineda, Time Out Entertainment

    A Man for All Seasons at Arvada Center for the Arts

  • “Persons is always interesting to watch on stage. Here his Ill is a meek man whose apprehensions slowly grow.”

    — Mark Collins, Daily Camera

    The Visit at Univ. of Colo.

  • Best Supporting Actor, Drama

    — Marlowe Awards, Out Front Colorado

    To Kill a Mockingbird, Colorado Shakespeare Festival

  • "While we have seen many funny interpretations of this colorful constable, an oddball combination of malapropisms and courtly nonsense, Chip Persons' bandolier-crested caricature brings unsurpassed clarity to Dogberry's addled and repetitious thought patterns, raising the laugh level to new heights.”

    — John Moore, Denver Post

    Much Ado About Nothing at Colorado Shakespeare Festival

  • “I still get the willies just thinking about Chip Persons' chilling portrayal [of Richard III] for the Colorado Shakespeare Festival in 2002. His Richard was one of the creepiest crawlers ever to slither his way across a stage. You not only believed he was capable of anything to win the throne, the audience recoiled every time he neared the front of the stage. That's malevolence you can believe in.”

    — John Moore, Denver Post, February 6, 2009

  • Nominee for Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role/Comedy

    — Camera's Eye Theater Awards, The Daily Camera

    The Three Musketeers at Colorado Shakespeare Festival

  • [King Louis is] “a delightful imbecile played by Chip Persons, in shocking contrast to his creepy ‘Richard III’ from 2002."

    — John Moore, Denver Post

    The Three Musketeers at Colorado Shakespeare Festival

  • "This is a dynamic performance, a bold showing that blends serious thought and visceral impulse.”

    — Mark Collins, Daily Camera

    Marat/Sade at the U. of Colo.

  • Nominee for Best Actor, Drama

    — Ovation Awards, Denver Post

    Richard III at Colorado Shakespeare Festival

  • "Chip Persons gives the show's most intriguing performance as Richard, the twitching tyrant-in-the-making who eventually becomes Richard III."

    — Jim Lillie, Westword

    Queen Margaret (Henry VI, Parts 1-3) at Colorado Shakespeare Festival

  • “Chip Persons’ performance is also refreshing. His Truffaldino uses voice modulations, precise gestures and mimicking to good comic effect.”

    — Jan Kerbr, Lidové Noviny

    The King Stag at Divado v Celetné