Review: Sagittarius Ponderosa by Austin Rainbow Theatre (ART)
by Michael Meigs

Austin Rainbow Theatre's Sagittarius Ponderosa is a slightly eerie, entrancing portrait of a multigenerational family living in a forested area that could well be enchanted. Playwright MJ Kaufman's story is dream-like, and director Adam Adolfo endows it with fluidity and grace. 

Charlotte Norris, CB Feller, Christina Little-Manley (via ART)The family of protagonist Archer (née Angela) is revealed around a symbolic Thanksgiving table, and each member takes a turn identifying something for which he/she/they  is/are thankful. They're an agreeably quirky bunch. Though we follow C.B. Feller as Archer much of the time, other characters get lots of stage time and put their imprints on this gentle fantasy. Pops, the pater familias with the stentorian voice, is a bit out of it but makes himself heard (as always with the estimable Ev Lunning Jr). Mom (Christina Little-Manley) is chirpy and unconcerned; Grandma (Charlotte Norris) is definitely out of touch. This isn't a coming-out story or a tale of adversity and hardship; Archer is simply who they are, a 29-year-old living with the folks, with the usual sorts of affections and frustrations of any single person of that age. (Side note: a recent post on Facebook, not necessarily authoritative, states that half of U.S. males in that cohort are still living at home.)

 

A death occurs, bringing sorrow, but in Kaufman's magic world that's a transition, not a disappearance. That individual hovers about subsequent events. There's an intriguing puppet representing an effigy gentleman caller we see but who must exist only in Grandma's imagination. Archer has a fling with Owen, a forester carrying out a census of the trees, including the towering ponderosa of the title. Theirs is a straightforward, sweet relationship, enjoyed by both without cumbersome attachments (after all, Owen has an entire forest to tend to). 

 

Ev Lunning Jr., Christina Little-Manley (via ART)

 

This would be a luminous story if there were more light. Instead, the deep Ground Floor theatre ground-level thrust stage is mostly dark, with pools of light appearing to illuminate scenes in one sector or another. Most of the time the illumination is effectively placed, but a glaring spot focused near Pop's armchair almost blinded me a time or two. The Thanksgiving table remains at front center, sometimes obstructing action farther back, especially for those of us who love front-row seating.

 

Especially striking in this staging is the use of clips of contemporary popular music. These are brief, distinct, and vivid, creating unexpected intervals that momentarily lift the characters out of the story into smoothly balletic motion. Whether written in by playwright Kaufman or invented by director Adolfo, they remind the audience that life has random moments of ecstasy.

 

Charlotte Norris, "Peterson," Ev Lunning Jr, Elliot Koch (via ART)

 

The life-size puppet designed by Talya Hammerman and operated by Elliot Koch and Ev Lunning Jr is a polite, slim, wizened elderly man named Peterson who's either a memory or a figment of Grandma's imagination. Their courtly relationship is given just as much stage time and importance as that of Archer and Owen. 

 

In our divisive times, Austin Rainbow Theatre's choice of Kaufman's warm but unsentimental family portrait is both entertaining and consoling.

 

EXTRA

Click to view the ART program for Sagittarius Ponderosa

 

 


Sagittarius Ponderosa
by M.J. Kaufman
Austin Rainbow Theatre (ART)

Thursdays-Sundays,
October 17 - November 01, 2025
Ground Floor Theatre
979 Springdale Rd
Austin, TX, 78702

October 17 - November 1, 2025

Ground Floor Theater, Austin

Tickets $25 - $40 available online HERE