“...requiring an actor able to sift deftly through the layers of grief brought on by a father’s death and a mother’s apparent betrayal—and still, nimbly navigate the intricate majesty of Shakespearean language. Just such a Hamlet is Charles Pasternak... Mr. Pasternak’s complex and volatile performance, one that is equal parts disquieting consternation and revelation, is reason enough...”

“Duke Orsino (Charles Pasternak) was distractingly attractive on stage, earning gasps and even whistles from the audience when he first appeared... Pasternak has the conflicted and brooding role absolutely nailed.”

“Charles Pasternak as Iago was really astonishing… with as deep a command of the language as I have ever seen. He owns the stage and plays the role with no regrets… right to the very end.”

“Charles Pasternak’s petulant Claudio smolders with a short fuse that explodes at their wedding.”

“We know how to read it, and that we’re not supposed to simply turn on Claudio (though credit also has to go to Charles Pasternak’s earnest performance for that achievement as well).”

“Charles Pasternak — so dashing last season as Hotspur in “Henry VI” — reveals a completely different, blunted style as Antony’s determined foe Octavius Caesar.”

“Bottom Line: Charles Pasternak turns in a flawless performance in IRT’s season opener comedy, The Two Gentlemen of Verona.”

“I cried during Valentine’s (Pasternak’s) “What light is light, if Silvia be not seen” speech after he is banished...”

“Charles Pasternak as Henry Percy, the impetuous and impatient Hotspur, is bold and aggressive. He is constant movement and action, swayed by a passion and idealism that manifests itself in raw energy.”

“Charles Pasternak was just magnetic as the lovelorn angst ridden Romeo and brought an air of sexiness to Shakespeare. I adored his interpretation of this diverse and tortured role and brought such depth to this character.”

“Pasternak gives an intriguingly physical turn. His hand gestures have a fluid (teetering on florid) beauty, not unlike Romeo’s bold declarations of infatuation with Rosaline and then a love more precious and costly. Below Juliet’s window, he skirts the perimeter with a feline energy, a smitten kitten.”

“Charles Pasternak as Prince Hal is the biggest surprise and one of the greatest treats of this production. Intense, sometimes mesmerizing, he pulls off the trick of this character, which is to embody enough fire and life to make his recent rambunctious past believable while showing that energy to be under the bridle of intelligence and instinctive good judgment.”

“Charles Pasternak plays both heirs to the kingdom — the invincible sun king Louis, resplendent in his majesty; and the tormented Philippe, his face hidden in a welded iron mask... The actor imbues Philippe with great vulnerability, and the monarch with palpable pomp.”

“Pasternak is absolutely breathtaking as a man facing his own morality with equal parts terror, valor, and defiance.”

“Mr. Pasternak’s Oedipus is a complex mix of swagger and vulnerability… He manages to perfectly balance tenacity and determination with anxiety and doubt as he navigates his own undoing.”

“In the title role, Charles Pasternak makes for a sometimes relaxed, sometimes tempestuous monarch, with a charm that makes it apparent how he could have wandered into Thebes after a road-rage incident and stolen the heart of Queen Jocasta”

“...Black Stache, played with magnificent comic villainy by Charles Pasternak. The role is, by design, flamboyant and physically presentational, traits that Pasternak possesses in spades, along with a cunning sense of linguistic delivery. Few actors could turn three words, “Oh my god,” into an entire scene, one that, well, hooks the audience. ”

“Charles Pasternak excels in his role as Leontes, giving the king an essential goodness that makes it even easier to put one’s self in his shoes. His voice is clear and resonant, his diction crisp and precise, and his characterizations expressive and broad, but never exaggerated or contrived... Pasternak commands and artfully holds attention.”

“Charles Pasternak gave his Saturninus, the newly crowned emperor, a slimy shallowness that was simultaneously comic and scary.”

“Henry V is easily one of the most enjoyable and full-bodied productions this festival has ever seen. Led by the astonishing Charles Pasternak as Henry... Pasternak utterly inhabits the mercurial young king... Flawlessly intelligible, Pasternak’s Henry is a lightening quick study in rising to the demands of history...”

“Most importantly, the actor who plays Henry, SSC veteran Charles Pasternak, is superb. From the first scene to the last, Pasternak adds multiple dimensions to Henry’s character via body language, subtle glances, dramatic pauses, and attention-commanding delivery. When Henry’s enraged, the audience can feel the heat, and when he’s attempting to woo the French princess, Catherine of Valois—and failing miserably—it’s impossible not to blush.”

“The real scene stealer of the show was Charles Pasternak as King Louis. His hilarious interpretation reminded me of a gay Bobcat Wildcat and he was just so over the top and had the audience in stitches every time he was onstage.”

“Charles Pasternak does double duty as the foppish King of France, who nails everyone who wanders into court and pays more attention to his bedmates than his battle plans, and as the ill-fated puritan Felton. Pasternak attacks both parts with such a serious and robust sense of character that their outrageous behavior seems even funnier.”

“Pasternak (an absolutely brilliant Hamlet earlier this year) gives a rich, multi-layered performance as Duvid, both the romantic, caring husband and the physically and emotionally scarred Holocaust victim.”

“Pasternak is particularly memorable as the young, vital husband who appears later as the victim of war’s cruelty.”

“Charles Pasternak gives an electric, tour de force performance as the Prince Of Denmark that can stand up to the best Hamlets you or I have seen… Pasternak’s work alone is worth the price of admission. A darkly intense, magnetic presence, Pasternak impresses throughout. Whether agonizing over his father’s murder and his mother’s remarriage to Hamlet’s power-hungry uncle, or craftily feigning madness as part of his revenge strategy, or ultimately losing his mind to grief, the young actor gives a performance of quicksilver brilliance and dexterous physicality.”

“Charles Pasternak as Hamlet is grand, extravagant, showy, audacious and utterly effective. He is, in short, magnificent. He swings from mood to mood, humor to pathos, madness to sanity with an alacrity that serves Shakespeare’s play well.”

“Pasternak gives us a wonderfully appealing and relatable Berowne who is at once critic and victim of all the frivolity, and he does so with such charm, wit, humor and presence that he lifts the level of all around him. Like a Shakespearean Fred Astaire, he’s so good at his craft that he makes his partners look good.”

“Charles Pasternak dominates as Marc Antony because Shakespeare gave him the showiest role, and he has the authority, charisma and technical proficiency to own the stage when he walks onto it.”