Reviews for Teatro Vivo Performances
Review: Cuentos y Risas, one-acts by Rupert Reyes
by Michael Meigs
Published on March 10, 2009
Teatro Vivo is always fun, and this evening of two one-act plays is no exception. Both were written by the group's artistic director Rupert Reyes.
Teatro Vivo is always fun, and this evening of two one-act plays is no exception. Both were written by the group's artistic director Rupert Reyes. The opening piece, Two Souls and A Promise, was presented for the first time last August as one of several short pieces. At that time I commented, in part, "With 2 Souls and A Promise, veteran Rupert Reyes offers us a meditation that starts in whimsy and finishes with reflections …
Review: Fantasmaville by Raul Garza, Teatro Vivo
by Michael Meigs
Published on November 05, 2008
An enigmatic spirit in the shape of a gigantic raccoon has been watching over the middle-aged party lady Flor, frequenter of beer halls who hasn’t lost a single dice game in the past 18 years.
Raul Garza’s Fantasmaville won last year’s Latin Playwrights award even before it had been produced.I’ve been anticipating the show for months, because I read the play last August. In fact, I auditioned for the “cranky old man” role of Akers, which seemed to be the best fit for my age, if not for my temperament."Fantasmaville" ("Haunted City") is here. Garza sets it in east Austin, complete with references to César Chavez Avenue, local schools, Capital Metro, Wheatsville …
Review: Voces de Vivo by Teatro Vivo
by Michael Meigs
Published on August 22, 2008
The sense of community at Austin’s Teatro Vivo is tangible. One has a warm, expectant feeling, like the anticipation of attending a school production where one knows many of the actors.
The sense of community at Austin’s Teatro Vivo is tangible and reinforces the appeal of the consort. One has a warm, expectant feeling, much like the anticipation of attending a school production where one knows many of the actors. At a high school or college play, one is additionally disposed to forgive occasional slips or stumbles because one likes the participants so much. Teatro Vivo’s familiar participants don’t require that indulgence. They are credible, creative …
Review: Petra's Sueño
by Michael Meigs
Published on June 09, 2008
The plot is light and builds a narrative with comic, illogical developments, in which the bad guys are caricatures of wickedness, as in the best vaudeville (in good groundling fashion, I was tempted at times to boo or hiss but I contained myself).
First of all, though Rupert Reyes and his Teatro Vivo assure you that this is a “bilingual comedy,” their generous-hearted Petra’s Sueño is in fact written more than 90% in English. The meaning of virtually every syllable of the Spanish dialogue is made clear by restatement in English, in context or in mime. You could speak not a word of Spanish and yet still capture everything; and if you do understand Spanish, this confection is more …