Reviews for Classic Theatre of San Antonio Performances
Review: Shakespeare's MEASURE FOR MEASURE by Classic Theatre, San Antonio
by Michael Meigs
Published on May 23, 2023
The powerful message from the set and staging of Classic Theatre's MEASURE FOR MEASURE is that of a world of voyeurism, secrets, and ambiguity, particularly sexual ambiguity.
Classic Theatre's Measure for Measure places its audience in a dark, uneasy, and tainted world. Those attending seat themselves in the rows of black chairs flanking the long sides of a rectangular playing space; at the narrow ends of that virtually bare stage television monitors flicker fretfully and insistently. They show images of public spaces, parking garages, and other places that would be monitored by closed circuit television. As the audience gathers, a man seated at …
Review: Bless Me, Ultima by Classic Theatre of San Antonio
by Kurt Gardner
Published on February 22, 2018
Andrew Treviño and Marisa Varela are perfectly cast as Antonio and Ultima in the Classic Theatre's sterling production of Rudolfo Anaya's breakthrough work of Chicano literature.
Bless Me, Ultima, Rudolfo Anaya's adaptation of his classic, arrives at the Classic Theatre in a sterling production. The 1972 work was a real breakthrough in Chicano literature, with its mixture of English and Spanish and emphasis on native mysticism. Those aspects are all effectively carried over to the play. Set in post-World War II New Mexico, this it the coming-of-age story of Antonio. a dreamy youth who is given invaluable guidance from Ultima, a …
Review (#2 of 2): A Doll's House by Classic Theatre of San Antonio
by Kurt Gardner
Published on November 14, 2017
Kacey Roye's Nora is a bundle of raw nerves, overcompensating to please her domineering husband and present her “best face” to society. Her confrontation of husband Torvald in the final act is both poignant and satisfying.
Even though it was written in 1879, Henrik Ibsen’s A Doll’s House doesn’t seem to have aged a day— and the production now playing at the Classic Theatre certainly proves it. The Classic’s approach to this staging seems to be “the more things change, the more they stay the same.” The set design by Alfy Valdez is timeless, capable of fitting into any era from the late 1800s and beyond. Indeed, this timelessness carries over …
Review: A Doll's House by Classic Theatre of San Antonio
by Michael Meigs
Published on November 10, 2017
Kacey Roye captures our attention every second she's on stage, which is most of the time. When threats arrive and pressures mount, Roye as Nora faces them with touching courage and rationality. By the third-act crisis we accept Nora's complexity and applaud it.
Publicity for the Classic Theatre's staging of A Doll's House by Henrik Ibsen promised it would be set in 1950’s America with a Mad Men flair, but from the moment you settled in your seat it was clear that with his beautiful, meticulously detailed set Alfy Valdez was scrupulously evoking a bougeois Scandinavian home of the 19th century. Yes, the house's lights were electric, but all other details -- the pastel walls, the Tiffany-style hanging lamps, …
Review: You Can't Take it with You by Classic Theatre of San Antonio
by Kurt Gardner
Published on September 12, 2017
The Classic launches its tenth season with a splendid production of the Pulitzer Prize-winning comedy, still hilarious and relevant after 80 years.
The Classic Theatre launches its 10th season on a high note with a rollicking production of George S. Kaufman and Moss Hart’s Pulitzer-Prize-winning comedy You Can’t Take it With You. On opening night, the appreciative audience roared frequently with laughter – a tribute to both the timelessness of the piece and the skill of the actors performing it. Allan S. Ross plays “Grandpa” Martin, the patriarch of the Vanderhof family. A former businessman, …
Review: Burning Patience by Classic Theatre of San Antonio
by Kurt Gardner
Published on July 12, 2017
Antonio Skármeta's charming work comes to the Classic Theatre in a simple yet charming production.
Those who’ve seen the 1994 Academy Award-winning film Il Postino will already know the story of Burning Patience, the story upon which it was based. The lyrical work by Antonio Skármeta translated by Tim Klinger is now playing at the Classic Theatre in a simple yet charming production. Hector Machado plays the Chilean poet Pablo Neruda, who lives on the remote coastline of Isla Negra. He receives frequent visits from thetown’s young …