Recent Reviews
Review: The Repentance of St. Joan by Paper Chairs
by David Glen Robinson
Published on March 26, 2018
The freshness of THE REPENTANCE OF SAINT JOAN is its freedom to change space, time, character, and tone from one phrase of dialogue to the next, thanks in large part to a gifted and flexible cast.
Judd Farris’ visage is a landscape. He opens the play in monologue, speaking of what he did after the war—what war?—building villages, building churches, and working in granaries. He describes walking in snowy woodlands, and ascending a hill and its consequent aerobic effects on him. By the time he reaches the crest he has become the landscape he describes, and we trust his genuineness and authenticity. It is time itself we cannot trust. …
Review: A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder by touring company
by Brian Paul Scipione
Published on March 22, 2018
Frankly, A GENTLEMAN'S GUIDE TO LOVE AND MURDER takes its cues from the likes of THE BOOK OF MORMON and AVENUE Q, for a fun-filled night out -- and a family-friendly one aat that.
“Why are all the D’Ysquith’s dying?” The mourners sing in chorus during the opening of Act Two in the Tony-Award-winning A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder. And it’s true more than a half of a dozen family members have already been dispatched in the first act alone. But this query can be little more than a rhetorical over-simplification of the play’s classic Shakespearean plot. When young Monty Navarro learns he is no mere Navarro …
Review #2 of 2: LANDSCAPE MECHANICAL by Sarah Loucks, Mouth Radio
by David Glen Robinson
Published on March 12, 2018
LANDSCAPE MECHANICAL, gone in a flash, presented a car lot’s worth of stories of those whose careers have pitched them into the very shoals and reefs and backwaters of life. It's another extremely well-written story with tender heart and clever imagination.
Sarah Loucks and Mouthradio have just presented Landscape Mechanical, a worthy successor to 2017’s Crave Blue. This production is outdoors, not in some magnificent setting, but in a gravel parking lot amid old warehouses. The setting is apt because Landscape Mechanical presents a car lot’s worth of stories of those whose careers have pitched them into such settings, the very shoals and reefs and backwaters of life. Loucks’ writing and the skilled performers’ offer of empathic connection …
Review #1 of 2: LANDSCAPE MECHANICAL by Sarah Louks, Mouth Radio
by Justin M. West
Published on March 12, 2018
This show has courage to take risks, and it trusts us as an audience to follow where we’re led, often inward. We’re left wanting more.
Author’s Note: This review contains spoilers. Since this is an original work, I would highly encourage you to avoid reading this review until after you see the show. I understand this might defeat the purpose of reading it, entirely, but I believe the element of surprise is worth more than my blathering, at least in this case. If your heart simply aches for a review beforehand, I would just say – go see this show! …
Review: The Curate Shakespeare As You Like It by The Baron's Men
by Michael Meigs
Published on March 07, 2018
The contrast between Nigro's mischievous comedy about Shakespeare amateurs and the accomplished repertory of the Baron's Men reminds us what a sterling but unappreciated resource this company is for Austin arts.
Faced with a request to adapt Shakespeare's As You Like It for a reduced cast, playwright Don Nigro, known for his comedies, probably decided it could be done -- but it would be more fun to turn the whole thing inside out. After all, Shakespeare's script features twenty named characters -- twenty-one, actually, if you include the masque of Hymen, the god of marriage ceremonies. So that's what he did. Nigro imagined an amateur cast …
Review: Four Corners in a Circle by Chaddick Dance Theater
by David Glen Robinson
Published on February 25, 2018
Those attending may not have fully grasped the Buddhist concept of the mandala, but they enjoyed the marvelous abstract movement and imagery. The ingenious use of simultaneous video projections was a gift to the audience.
Four Corners in a Circle is the latest in the annual series of winter dance shows by Chaddick Dance Theater, Cheryl Chaddick, Producing Artistic Director. This year’s show was a step up in several good senses, the first being its location in the spacious Austin Ventures Studio at Ballet Austin. The 2018 edition was comprised of two dance pieces, the first being “Life Between Us,” followed by “Crisis of Meaning.” “Life Between Us” was a …