Review: Stage Blood by Different Stages
by David Glen Robinson
Stage Blood is a long, rollicking comedy by satirist playwright Charles Ludlum. Different Stages threw it onstage at The Vortex on Manor Road to great success. The play is enjoyable for all, above all for those who have seen or read Shakespeare’s Hamlet.
A traveling theatre company struggles at every stop to produce the ghost-ridden tale of the Prince of Denmark. The current stop is Pflugerville. And we have a story-within-a-story-within-a-story: a stereotypically disaffected stage manager (Zachary Gamble) has written a 1200-page play to end all, and instead of giving the cast their cues, he pressures them to perform his work. His play of course amounts to amateur, tendentious, post-postmodern tripe.
The cast is loathe to turn away from their own amateurish cuts at Shakespeare. The ensuing conflict is only one of the drivers of the play. Steaming through it as well are murder, adultery, unrequited love, unrequited ambition, mistaken identity, and impure motivation. The cast perspires heavily in dealing with all their material in this three-act. The audience perspires heavily while guffawing at the play, despite the air-conditioned comfort of The Vortex and two intermissions. Stage Blood also gives us several orations from soliloquies in Hamlet, some of the most revered utterances in the Elizabethan canon.
This production clearly belonged in spirit to Will Douglas, both onstage and as the co-artistic director of Jarrott Productions. In enacting the character of Carlton Stone Jr., the company manager and son of the founder, Douglas carried the play from start to finish. His character bore the slings and arrows of the lovers, friends, family, and exploiters met along the way. He made it happen for the rest of the characters but got off some of the best punchlines himself.
Douglas worked in character partnership with Ev Lunning, double cast as Carlton Stone Sr. and Gilbert Fey with additional duties as one of the ghosts. The highly experienced Lunning made the complexities of the comedy seem simple. The remainder of the excellent cast was comprised of Griffin Gardner, Zachary Gamble as mentioned, Tim Blackwood, the amazing Kelsey Mazak, and Allie Carnero. Norman Blumensaadt directed the whole shebang with the ease that comes from his four decades of experience in theatre.
The designers and technicians showed great familiarity with the space and facility that is The Vortex. Amy Lewis’s lighting was especially facilitating. A small critique that is something of a peeve of this writer is the hardcopy program; the document is heavily in need of copy-editing and proofing. Which is it, Ludlum or Ludlam?
Stage Blood ended its current run in Austin on July 11th, 2026. The play is popular and highly recommended for all ages. Watch for it elsewhere whenever it may be produced.
Stage Blood
by Charles Ludlam
Different Stages
June 26-July 11, 2026
Wednesdays – Saturdays at 8 pm and Sundays at 6 PM.
There is no performance on Saturday July 4, 2026.
The Vortex
2307 Manor Road
Austin, Tx 78722
Ticket prices are $15-$39, pick your price.
For tickets https://www.vortexrep.org
For information call 512-926-6747
