Recent Reviews
Review #1 of 2: The Merry Wives of Windsor by The Baron's Men
by Hannah Neuhauser
Published on April 28, 2026
Julia Mella’s uproariously egotistical but endearing Falstaff meets his double match: Renée Osborn and Lindsay Palinsky as Mistresses Page and Ford.
In all of Shakespeare’s greatest comedies, someone is being screwed over for their odious stupidity. In the Baron’s Men production of The Merry Wives of Windsor, Sir John Falstaff (Julio Melia) attempts to seduce both Mistress Page (Renée Osborn) and Mistress Ford (Lindsay Palinksy) with copies of the same rather crude love letter. Of course, when an event such as this occurs, women talk. The wives conduct a series of pranks to teach the drunken …
Review: A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder by Austin Playhouse
by Hannah Neuhauser
Published on April 23, 2026
PLEASE watch A GENTLEMAN'S GUIDE at Austin Playhouse to see Scott Shipman die nine times to thunderous applause!
Austin Playhouse’s A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder is a musical of England's Edwardian times that will leave you dying of laughter! Join Monty Navarro (Bailey Ellis) on his nefarious scheme to murder the D’Ysquith family (Scott Shipman) to claim his nheritance as earl. Between funerals, Navarro also struggles to balance his love life. Should he return to his married mistress, the seductive Sibella (Sarah Manna) or start anew with his cousin, the innocent …
Review: Austin Dance Festival by Kathy Dunn Hamrick Dance Company
by David Glen Robinson
Published on April 18, 2026
Eighteen very different demonstrations of imagination and virtuosity made for a memorable 11th Austin Dance Festival dedicated to the memory of founder Kathy Dunn Hamrick.
The Austin Dance Festival 2026 was the latest success in a long line of such. This eleventh edition was in honor of founder Kathy Dunn Hamrick, who died in February. As traditionally structured, the event consisted of workshops, masterclasses, video interviews, academy showcases, and professional company showcases. The curated professional showcases are by application and invitation. This review examines the eighteen works in the 5 pm and the 8 pm shows. Given that number of …
Review: Mamma Mia! by touring company
by Brian Paul Scipione
Published on April 15, 2026
MAMMA MIA's terrific music, hilarious comedy, and show-stealer numbers outdo even ABBA's globally renowned original recordings.
Benny Andersson & Björn Ulvaeus' Mamma Mia! is a jukebox musical based on the songs of ABBA. For those who don’t know ABBA, they're the group responsible for all the bangers played at your cousin’s wedding that get more bodies on the dance floor than the chicken dance, and they are one of the successful groups in music history. Formed in 1972 by two couples—Agnetha Fältskog and Björn Ulvaeus, and Benny Andersson and Anni-Frid Lyngstad—they …
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Review: Take Care of My Friend by Filigree Theatre
by David Glen Robinson
Published on April 14, 2026
Kathleen Fletcher's script and performance is a rare record of a young life, inscribed on the world like a petroglyph etched on time. And a roadmap to the hinterland of self.
Kathleen Fletcher is an immensely powerful actor with great delivery, one who can change characters at the drop of a hat. In her work Take Care of My Friend she has evidently culled the nuggets out of years of personal journals kept during therapy and medical treatments. Regardless of the actual methodology, hers is an auspicious first play that concludes Filigree Theatre’s seventh season. Playwrights and producers often give audiences a content warning about shows …
Review #2 of 2: The Game's Afoot by The Stage, Austin
by Brian Paul Scipione
Published on April 11, 2026
With a cast stacked with talent, The Game's Afoot is a night of very serious silliness. Worth a second viewing (but its final weekend is sold out!).
“Come, Watson, come!' he cried. 'The game is afoot. Not a word! Into your clothes and come!' Ten minutes later we were both in a cab and rattling through the silent streets on our way to Charing Cross Station.” ― Arthur Conan Doyle, The Return of Sherlock Holmes “Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more, or close the wall up with our English dead. (….) I see you stand like greyhounds in the …