Recent Reviews
Review: The Man Who Planted Trees by Exchange Artists
by David Glen Robinson
Published on October 12, 2012
A foreign-language play right here in River City? Don’t let any perceived language barrier deter you from receiving the delights of this rare work.
The story of how Sparky Pocket Park on Grooms St. in central Austin came to exist is a drama all by itself, involving City departments and neighborhood voters. But that story is for another time; I went there on this chilly October evening to see the site-specific work by the Exchange Artists, The Man Who Planted Trees, based on a story by the French writer Jean Giono. I certainly was not disappointed in my expectations. …
Review: Moonlight and Magnolias by Penfold Theatre Company
by David Glen Robinson
Published on October 09, 2012
. . . fast-paced and funny. Director Robert Faires was inventive in his blocking and scrupulous in keeping clear sight lines and audible diction.
Moonlight and Magnolias by Ron Hutchinson is a romp and a challenge for comedic actors. Penfold Theatre Company is giving it a go in the City Theatre behind the Shell station on Airport Boulevard, exciting the audience members who actually manage to find the venue. The play is relatively new, published in 2004, but it is set in Hollywood, 1939, specifically in the the executive office of Producer David O. Selznick (Ryan Crowder). Shooting of …
Review: Just Outside Redemption by Theatre en Bloc
by Michael Meigs
Published on September 27, 2012
In the excitement of the effective retelling of what was really a legislative history and in the midst of the adulation of those who brought it about more than a decade ago, that sense of community and common purpose was reaffirmed.
In his current All Over Creation essay in the Austin Chronicle Robert Faires muses over the moral dilemma you face when your theatre friends come to you after a performance you didn't particularly care for and expectantly await your reaction. Faires has been on both sides of that divide, for in addition to his roles as a reviewer, critic and arts writer he's an actor and a director, opening his staging of the comedy Moonlight …
Review: Red by Penfold Theatre Company
by David Glen Robinson
Published on September 22, 2012
After much discourse on the meaning of red and many other art topics, the actors actually painted a large canvas, priming it in red, I wanted to give them a standing ovation. They demonstrated the craft and skill of painting, giving us the goods at last, a rare theatre and art moment.
Red is a tragedy, make no mistake, but it is one in love with life, and most especially with the color red. As with the very best plays, Red tells everything plainly to the audience. The promotional material for the play is full of piquant quotations from the script, by way of Mark Rothko, the central character. My favorite, not in any of the cut-lines is: “There is tragedy in every brushstroke.” And so the …
Review: Stage by Chris Fontanes, Bottle Alley Theatre Company
by Michael Meigs
Published on September 19, 2012
Stage doesn't give us the finished sculpture; what we have is the exterior of an awkward and unformed mold. We don't even really see the sculptor at work, since the script does not provide the back stories to provide motivations or establish relationships for these actor-ch
Austin has lots of 'seat-of-your-pants' theatre, the sort in which a group of friends or acquaintances or newly recruited players get together for a single project. They band together for the satisfaction and the thrill of performance, and as often as not their audiences are constituted of friends and family. Chris Fontanes and associates terming themselves the Bottle Alley Theatre Company showed courage and initiative in publicizing their four-night run of his script Stage, and …
Review: spacestation 1985 by Natalie George
by David Glen Robinson
Published on September 17, 2012
Their humor ranges from broad, slap-your-face vulgarities to dry 1980s trivia references that nobody got. That’s OK; the writing is full of fresh, funny content.
The Off-Center is the homeland of the Rude Mechanicals theatre company, where that storied group has ridden their great performances to theatrical glory. So it is a little intimidating to walk in there with performance on one’s mind. Natalie George and Jeffrey Mills showed no sign of intimidation whatsoever when they rented the space from the Rudes and installed Spacestation 1985 in it. The piece is a laugh riot at its core, and it is …