Recent Reviews
Review: The Curse of the House of Usher by Weird City Theatre
by Michael Meigs
Published on February 25, 2010
The piece contains moments of intense drama, which the WCTC cast delivers in good style. In particular, there's a tearing, revelatory moment at the sudden death of Madeline.
Weird City Theatre Company specializes in the creepy, the spooky and the haunting. Their sense of "weird" shares something with the scruffy, quirky laid-back attitude of the now clichéd slogan "Keep Austin Weird," in that they are working on a shoestring and a vision. But they are really embracing a different notion of Austin creativity: the idea of translating otherworldly out-of-copyright works into evening séances to give us suspense, a shiver and a release.Patti Neff-Tiven's …
Review: The Dixie Swim Club by Sam Bass Community Theatre
by Michael Meigs
Published on February 20, 2010
What makes this production special is that it plays to the strengths of the informal, floating company constituting the Sam Bass Community Theatre. Like the Dixie Swim Club women, these women actors resonate as a group of friends.
The Sam Bass Community Theatre celebrates friendship and nostalgia in The Dixie Swim Club, by that clever trio of writers who dropped out of the big time to devote themselves to crafting vehicles for community theatres.Jessie Jones, Nicholas Hope and Jamie Wooten now have residences in Asheville NC and in New York City, according to their website. After careers in television and regional theatre, they hit gold with their 2005 North Carolina premiere of Dearly Beloved, introducing the …
Review: The Atheist by Hyde Park Theatre
by Michael Meigs
Published on February 20, 2010
The Atheist is billed as a "dark comedy," but it is no barrel of laughs. In fact, there are virtually no laughs at all in Joey Hood's intense, two-act 90-minute performance.
Sleazy, pushy Augustine Early is the just the sort of brilliant sociopath that fascinates Ken Webster, judging from the programming at the Hyde Park Theatre.The Atheist is billed as a "dark comedy," but it is no barrel of laughs. In fact, there are virtually no laughs at all in Joey Hood's intense, two-act 90-minute performance. If it's a comedy at all, it's a sardonic comedy, in the etymological sense: from 1630–40<>sardoni(us) (<>sardónios of Sardinia) + -an; "the primary reference was …
Review: Moonlight and Magnolias by Gaslight Baker Theatre
by Michael Meigs
Published on February 19, 2010
Gaslight Baker's production was one that had a bit of everything, with something for everyone -- clowning, film buff history, zooming egos and parodies of that beloved-for-all-time American film. Not much room -- or need -- for quiet reflection in this one!
Lots of folks turned out for the last Saturday night performance of Roy Hutchinson's Moonlight and Magnolias by the Gaslight Baker Theatre. Word of mouth had been at work down in Lockhart about this guys' screwball comedy. There is a dame in the cast. Esther Williams has only a few lines in her role as Miss Poppenghul, the earnest and attentive secretary to Hollywood producer David O. Selznick (David Schneider). Most of those are variations on "Yes, Mr. Selnick" …
Review: Alice In Wonderland (SRT) by Scottish Rite Theater
by Michael Meigs
Published on February 18, 2010
The problem with nonsense, of course, is that it just doesn't make -- sense. Dear Alice faces enigma after enigma, encountering the most positively arbitrary personages the author could imagine.
Macey Mayfield with her china doll good looks and silvery little voice is a lovely match for the imaginary Alice whom Lewis Carroll sent off to Wonderland. Children's theatre in the style of the Scottish Rite Theatre requires of actors a special willingness and ability. The actors have their audience just two steps away, on mats spread in the wide open space at the center of the theatre. SRCT scripts pretty much banish the fourth wall, as …
Review: Macbeth by Austin Drama Club
by Michael Meigs
Published on February 17, 2010
An evening with the ADC is an eerie and sometimes confusing experience. This is a word-of-mouth world, where the ADC core is willing to share their experience only with those who are is really, really interested in seeking them out.
Sarah England's opening turn as the witch in Macbeth for Austin Drama Club felt so, so right. She's one witch for three, huddled over a trash can lit from below and sporadically spouting CO2 smoke. Her cutting voice and spooky moves make you understand that she believes, really believes that there is dark magic at work here.That belief is the underpinning for the Austin Drama Club, an almost inexplicable group of devotees to the dark art of …