Recent Reviews

Review: Welcome to the Moon by The Exchange Artists

Review: Welcome to the Moon by The Exchange Artists

by David Glen Robinson
Published on May 31, 2014

The Exchange Artists’ Hot Nights performance series is here tonight, gone tomorrow. Thesaurus terms such as ephemeral and transitory correctly describe it, but certain qualities of the productions persist in memory. First, producers Rachel Weise and Bridget Farr choose pithy one-act plays, whether comedies or tragedies. Next, the producers recruit the most intense actors they can find to pour themselves into their roles in each play. Lastly, they find excellent musical ensembles to add musical support to the plays …

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Review: What's Goin' On? by Generic Ensemble Company

Review: What's Goin' On? by Generic Ensemble Company

by Stephen Meigs
Published on May 30, 2014

Yes,it's not Brechtt. No, that's not bad.

Okay, so I'm with other audience members, in the box office of the Vortex Theater, before the show starts. And the lady staff member says to us, "The show takes place all over the place, not just in the theater. It's out in the courtyard. It's in the theater. It's interactive. You can get involved or just watch."   Then she holds up 3 ribbons, each about 20 inches long - a red ribbon, a yellow …

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Review: What's Goin' On? by Generic Ensemble Company

Review: What's Goin' On? by Generic Ensemble Company

by Michael Meigs
Published on May 29, 2014

"Am I good?" It's easy and reassuring to divide all that we see and experience into Manichean opposites.  That's the sort of teaching that we encounter from very early in life: This is good. That is bad. But later, as we begin to understand that the world's a far more complicated place, those distinctions are harder to draw. Male; female. Black; white. Work; play.  Sincere; phony.  Optimism; pessimism.  Capitalism; socialism.  Rich; poor.  Liberated; oppressed.  Truth; lies.  Aren't they …

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Review: Once There Were Six Seasons by Glass Half Full Theatre

Review: Once There Were Six Seasons by Glass Half Full Theatre

by David Glen Robinson
Published on May 29, 2014

Glass Half Full Theatre presents the premiere production of what may be its most ambitious production to date, Once There Were Six Seasons. Productions of alt-puppetry, such as this one, have been called 3-D animation. That particular term may be conflated, however, with 3-D animated movies marketed by many Hollywood studios. Theatrical productions of alt-puppetry are much closer to 3-D art, or sculpture and installation art, animated by clever manipulation. Typically, the productions tell adult and, …

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Review: Burundanga  by ALTA Teatro

Review: Burundanga by ALTA Teatro

by Michael Meigs
Published on May 26, 2014

ALTA Teatro gives a vigorous, polished and highly comic presentation of this comedy by Catalan playwright Jordi Galceran, who writes with the zip of Neil Simon and the courage to mock mercilessly the Basque terrorist group ETA , the clandestine band of separatist thugs that has carried out kidnappings and killed more than 800 in Spain since 1968.  Ironically enough, the opening performances of Burundanga in Cataluña coincided almost to the day with ETA's announcement of "a …

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Review: The Suicide by Paper Chairs

Review: The Suicide by Paper Chairs

by Michael Meigs
Published on May 20, 2014

The paperchairs crew is smart, savvy, musical and literate, a combination that has consistently produced challenging and exciting theatre.  With Erdman's The Suicide they reach 85 years back in theatre history to a Russian farce of breath-taking arrogance that earned its author a prison term in Siberia and wasn't staged again in his homeland until after the breakup of the Soviet Union.  Directors Elizabeth Doss and Lisa Laratta cast this piece with a Loony Tunes satiric sensibility …

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