Review: Defiant by Debutantes and Vagabonds

by Michael Meigs
Published on March 12, 2011

Brant could have usefully and instructively explored the rich contradictions of resentment and grief suggested by Dawn Erin's performance. But his naive nightmare vision of this country is so astonishingly distant from our reality that it entirely undermines the emotional content.

George Brant's Defiant is bleak and stupid.   There, after chewing on it for a week, I have spat it out.  Not happily, because this gives me an unbroken record of writing negative reviews about this theatre ensemble.  Of the four of their productions I've tracked to date, I missed A Brilliant Revolution and The Virgin with 10,000 Arrows, both of which got respectful reviews.  After seeing their May 2009 evening of short works under the title Are You Alive? which featured …

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Review: Are You Alive? by Debutantes and Vagabonds

by Michael Meigs
Published on May 18, 2009

The six sketches presented by D&V were mostly unoriginal and sophomoric. The opening and closing pieces by Greg Romero suggest strongly that he has a nasty obsession with bondage, mistreatment, and body fluids.

This evening was a predictable success for music and a huge disappointment for theatre.Debutantes and Vagabonds, active since 2007 according to the history posted on MySpace, got a nice shout-out in March on Austin.com for their piece "A Brilliant Revolution." Ryan E. Johnson called it "hands down the funniest piece I've seen at FronteraFest."  So I was expecting something special for this "collection of macabre theatre."  D&V secured the Rollins Theatre at the Long Center for a three-night run made possible in part …

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