Recent Reviews
Review: The History of King Lear, Nahum Tate adaptation by Hidden Room Theatre
by David Glen Robinson
Published on November 11, 2015
Beth Burns' version of Nahum Tate's reworked KING LEAR could be subtitled 'Restoration Cinematic Kabuki.' Strongly recommended!
The English Restoration was made in 1660, and 21 years into Charles II’s reign Nahum Tate premiered his History of King Lear in London. The play was a strong rewriting of Shakespeare’s King Lear, much to Restoration tastes. Tate’s tale of the mad, storm-crawling king with two treacherous daughters held sway on stages for 150 years, it is said, until there was something of a Shakespearean restoration. Thereafter, Tate’s version was effectively lost. …
Review: Into The Woods by Austin Jewish Repertory Theatre
by Michael Meigs
Published on November 07, 2015
The AJRT/TSP production of Into The Woods sparkles. This beautifully spare and animated production will be an award contender as an ensemble work.
What remains to be said about Into The Woods by Steven Sondheim and James Lapine? Musical theatre buffs marked the 28th anniversary of the Broadway premiere of their slightly subversive treatment of four fairytales from the Brothers Grimm this past week, the day following the opening of the production jointly sponsored by Trinity Street Players and the Austin Jewish Repertory Company. Last year Disney produced a relatively well received film with an all-star cast, …
Review: Naked as a Gaybird by Salvage Vanguard Theater
by David Glen Robinson
Published on November 07, 2015
Many of Jay Byrd's stories are tinged with tragedy or are outright tragedies; this reviewer often wondered if he should be laughing at them at all.
Jay Byrd's autobiographical one-man show Naked as a Gaybird is strong in content and themes. It's a demonstration of skill and fortitude, as any one-actor show must be. Byrd is well up to the task, with the aid of director Jenny Larson. His show is also a work of penis adoration, the visuals mostly presented in cartoon animation videos by Ray Ray Mitrano and Aron Taylor. In hilarious presentation Byrd tells about growing up gay and how …
Review: Marisol by Texas State University
by Michael Meigs
Published on November 05, 2015
This production of Marisol missed its time slot by a week, for its serious weirdness would have been appropriate for Halloween.
José Rivera's 1993 phantasmagorical play Marisol was awarded an Off-Broadway (Obie) award for playwriting. It must have gotten attention for the deranged excesses of his picture of New York City and a world gone wrong. Rivera imagines a dark, dark world -- morally, ethically and literally, for the sun hasn't been seen for months and there's every indication that the laws of physics have warped beyond predictability. The sun rises in the north and sets in …
Review: Frankenstein by Trouble Puppet Theatre Company
by David Glen Robinson
Published on November 04, 2015
In a brilliant stage presentation full of imagery, the singular Connor Hopkins' Frankenstein is a robo-articulated concatenation of images with sinuous reptilian movement.
This is not like anybody else’s version of Frankenstein, and it is not even like Trouble Puppet’s earlier adaptations of Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley's literary classic. It's a full, 21st century updatingin a stylish live theatre presentation. It offers new material and extends the plot with shadow puppets and other material. Not all theatergoers find puppet theatre a full and satisfying experience. Some cannot make the mental switch away from seeing puppetry as animated …
Review: La Muerte Alegre by Teatro Espacio Agua Viva
by Michael Meigs
Published on October 26, 2015
With its graceful charm and commedia dell'arte framework this 1908 Russian fantasy done in Spanish offers a sly admonitory message for the Día de los Muertos.
Most Anglos are put off by the Day of the Dead holiday. Skeletons, graves, and altars? Popular American culture has had little problem celebrating zombies, Frankenstein and Dracula, but those fantasy folk are at a comfortable distance from us. Anglo America prefers to keep death hygenic, remote and out of sight. Mexico's Catholic and indigenous traditions look both death and family square in the face. Unlike the French traditional practice of simply visiting cemetaries …