Recent Reviews
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 …
Review: Romeo and Juliet by Mary Moody Northen Theatre
by Michael Meigs
Published on February 23, 2018
In this Romeo and Juliet the young persons are the story, and they carry the story. Director Robert Tolaro uses his three older Equity actors wisely, leaving room for the hot-blooded, the love-struck and the lovelorn.
Every teen deserves to attend a good staging of Romeo and Juliet, and the production now at the Mary Moody Northen Theatre is just that. On opening night I happened to sit next to a young woman who was thrilled by the opportunity. Not a student at St. Edward's University either; she'd read the play in high school and had watched Zeffirelli's film over and over again, and she was rapt to see that …
Review: Bless Me, Ultima by Classic Theatre of San Antonio
by Kurt Gardner
Published on February 22, 2018
Andrew Treviño and Marisa Varela are perfectly cast as Antonio and Ultima in the Classic Theatre's sterling production of Rudolfo Anaya's breakthrough work of Chicano literature.
Bless Me, Ultima, Rudolfo Anaya's adaptation of his classic, arrives at the Classic Theatre in a sterling production. The 1972 work was a real breakthrough in Chicano literature, with its mixture of English and Spanish and emphasis on native mysticism. Those aspects are all effectively carried over to the play. Set in post-World War II New Mexico, this it the coming-of-age story of Antonio. a dreamy youth who is given invaluable guidance from Ultima, a …