Recent Reviews
Review: Seminar by Jarrott Productions
by Michael Meigs
Published on May 17, 2018
SEMINAR is not just a rant; Rebeck's too good a playwright for that. There is satisfying development of the characters and a story arc neatly tied up by the end. And even a little redemption for the wicked Leonard.
Last month we took a full day of our Chicago trip to drive to Oak Park, a western suburb, to visit the Frank Lloyd Wright house, now a museum, and to stroll the neighborhood where many of his striking early designs were constructed. The tour guide and info at the museum and workshop described and displayed Wright's genius and recounted his life. Afterward our daughter turned to us with a deeply offended expression. "He was …
Review: Cry It Out by Theatre en Bloc
by Brian Paul Scipione
Published on May 05, 2018
Theatre en Bloc consistently illustrates a ‘don’t back down’ ethos in all their productions, and CRY IT OUT is another great example of this. For those who like theatre that inspires conversation as well as entertains: this production is for you.
“We're connected, as women. It's like a spiderweb. If one part of that web vibrates, if there's trouble, we all know it, but most of the time we're just too scared, or selfish, or insecure to help. But if we don't help each other, who will?” -Sarah Addison Allen When one is trying to capture the spirit of a play in a review it is convenient to look for a salient moment in the plot …
Review: The Book of Mormon by touring company
by Justin M. West
Published on April 24, 2018
If you have yet to see this show, you owe it to yourself. The laughs come fast and furious and straight from the gut, with hardly a moment to spare.
In 2010, you’d have been forgiven for laughing at the suggestion that the 2011 Tony Award winner for Best Musical would discuss such scholarly subjects as magical sex frogs, scrotal parasites, and why one should probably not attempt to engage in coitus with an infant. But, after its premiere in 2011, The Book of Mormon did just that, and had its audiences crying with laughter in the process. The brainchild of South Park creators Matt …
Review: Ragtime by Texas State University
by Michael Meigs
Published on April 21, 2018
If you missed this RAGTIME, take heart. As astonishingly impressive as was this production of Ragtime and as heart-breaking was the shortness of its formal run, Texas State under the leadership of Ms Hopkins is bound to go from strength to strength.
"They're running only six performances?" Karen exclaimed afterwards. "That's a crime!" All right, that reaction was a bit exaggerated, but it captures what the Texas State musical theatre people have done: by building the program over the past decade, the school has assembled an artistic critical mass that allows it to fill and paint the stage with such an overabundance of talent that their productions, including this one of the epic musical Ragtime, would conquer …
Review: Self Portraits by Bottle Alley Theatre Company
by Michael Meigs
Published on April 11, 2018
Behind the laughter was a keen sense of the absurdity and difficulty of lives of young adults; they invited us in, revealed themselves and just about knocked our socks off with energy and revelations.
The eleven actor/writer/participants in Bottle Alley's Self Portraits filled the Back Pack's hole-in-the-wall space in East Austin with exuberant energy reminiscent of summer camps, stand-up comedy fests and drama therapy sessions. This was a real smörgåsbord of an evening, a festive intellectual table of unpredictable experiences. These celebrants had worked up thirty pieces averaging about two minutes each, and the numbered sheets hung on a line high across the stage. Audience members were encouraged to …
Review #3 of 3: THE SECRETARY by Theatre en Bloc
by Michael Meigs
Published on March 30, 2018
In this play those who cling to the gun either murder without apology or face death by the gun, as in the endless horror of waiting in the final scene.
People all around us were laughing, as if somehow they were watching a completely different performance from the one being presented to us. But it wasn’t, of course. Already during the first act of The Secretary at the Rollins Theatre last Saturday night I was wondering how our perceptions were differing from the people that Theatre en Bloc was successfully entertaining. At the intermission Karen looked at me, misery in her eyes. “I can’t take …