Recent Reviews
Review: Rhinoceros by Mary Moody Northen Theatre
by Michael Meigs
Published on October 05, 2017
Blake Browning invests himself mightily in a protagonist who's neither distinguished nor particularly strong. The core moment of the play comes when Marc Pouhé as Jean, his irascible friend, struggles mightily against the lure of the rhinoceros and loses.
The concept of Eugène Ionescu's 1959 Rhinoceros is almost painfully simple. It is 1940 France. Bérenger, the protagonist, is a disaffected young man who can't quite figure out who he is or why he should be doing anything. As he appeals to his friend Jean, an adamant older man, the town is visited by a rhinoceros that comes tearing down the street and disappears. Bérenger isn't much affected, but then another rhinoceros streaks through town. Or …
Review: Vampyress by Chad Salvata, Vortex Repertory
by David Glen Robinson
Published on October 04, 2017
The peaks of excess of author-composer Salvata and director Cullum rise out of their ambient pools of blood and decadence for maximum, deliberate effect. At those moments, they refuse to shield the audience from the call of the wild.
Vampyress is back for the third time at the Vortex. One of Ethos’ premier productions, it is not so much matured as it is heightened in all of its production aspects. This is a true masterpiece of scenic design for Ann Marie Gordon, lighting design for Jason Amato, costume design for Stephanie Dunbar and Chad Salvata, a lead role in nu opera for Melissa Vogt, and directing for Bonnie Cullum. Chad Salvata’s …
Review: Prodigal Son by Jarrott Productions
by Michael Meigs
Published on September 29, 2017
Sam Domino is the reason to go see PRODIGAL SON, for his focus, breath-taking mastery of Bronx dialect, astonishing physicality and and body consciousness.
Sam Domino is the reason to go see Prodigal Son, staged by Jarrott Productions at the cozy Trinity Street Theatre on the fourth floor of downtown's First Baptist Church at 901 Trinity Street. Domino has the brooding power and presence you might associate with James Dean, the young Brando or Paul Newman. Moody, isolated, struggling to find a moral compass in an alien environment, his character James Quinn incarnates the outsider teen who probably …
Review: A Chorus Line by Texas State University
by Michael Meigs
Published on September 28, 2017
Let's applaud long and hard to signal our appreciation for these beautiful aspiring performers. We wouldn't wish such agonies upon any of them. Unless, of course, they insist. . . .
One reason A Chorus Line endures is that it captures for us the intense ephemeral nature of theatre and dance -- by portraying the anxiety of performers who've trained to the highest level but are subject to the arbitrary whims and preferences of a director or backer of a show. It's a peek behind the curtains of Broadway and Baghdad-on-the-Hudson. It's a glimpse of the ever true: for every dancer or actor successfully strutting …
Review: Gibberish Mostly by Ground Floor Theatre
by David Glen Robinson
Published on September 24, 2017
GIBBERISH MOSTLY by local playwright Max Langert shows us autism from the inside. The script has an economical sound and feel but leaves the audience weeping through the last half of the 90-minute story.
Gibberish Mostly is a wrenching play by local playwright Max Langert showing us autism from the inside. More than that, it is a gem of a play directed by Lisa Scheps to celebrate the reopening of Ground Floor Theatre (GFT) after 20 months of the City of Austin's blockage for permit violations and interminable waits for new permits. Through it all, the GFT owners, Lisa Scheps and Patti Neff Tiven, have been unwavering in …
Review: The Wolves by Hyde Park Theatre
by Michael Meigs
Published on September 24, 2017
Sarah Delappe's THE WOLVES replaces the familiar HPT aesthetic with a fast-moving, fast-talking earnest and boisterously naïve discovery of life's possibilities. These wolves are a girls' indoor soccer team dedicated to the sport and the exuberance of their own physical movement.
The Hyde Park Theatre has new contents these days, and the vitality of the Wolves soccer team comes close to blasting the roof off the building. We're used to a different brand from HPT's Ken Webster and allied Austin theatre companies, more along the lines of quiet unflinching examination of the quirks and dark corners of middleclass life in these United States. The Wolves by Sarah Delappe replaces that aesthetic with a fast-moving, fast-talking …