"Stimac gives a sterling, heart-wrenching performance as Joe, managing to convey the darkness of a Johnny Cash, the sordid rawness of a Kurt Cobain, while all the while styling unerringly after Joe Cocker, yet never losing context as Joe the aimless family loser, brunt of his father’s savage attacks. Stimac uses silence as effectively as effusiveness. As the soul-thread drawing the audience through the show’s arc, his steady, subterranean hopefulness brims over at finale, rendering Original Man one of the most genuine, cathartic stage experiences of the year."