Recent Reviews
Review: The Spanish Tragedie by Baron's Men
by Michael Meigs
Published on October 20, 2013
The murder is only the principal plot line. Other plots, murders and counter-murders keep things hopping, all the while apparently escaping the attention of the jolly Spanish king and his counterpart the comically neurotic Portuguese viceroy.
Villainy was afoot and revenge was hot at the tidy Elizabethan-style Curtain Theatre on opening weekend, but Karen insisted that I bundle up as if I was going hiking in the winter mountains. And she was right; the temp must have sunk to around 50 F. by the time C. Robert Stevens as Hieronimo had coaxed the malefactors at the Spanish court into the play-within-a-play that's the climax of The Spanish Tragedie. This costume drama …
Review: The Beautiful People by Steven Wilson
by Michael Meigs
Published on October 19, 2013
Director Steven Wilson has elicited a deeper sense from the story, one that's perhaps more in keeping with our modern sensibilities. As Atkinson comments, Saroyan is no Pinero, no devotee of the 'well-made play'; and in our jagged world, that's fine with us.
Don't let this gem flicker past you. Saroyan's gentle, quizzical one-act from 1941 isn't well known, and you're not likely to get the opportunity to enjoy it ever again. MFA candidate in directing Steven Wilson has magicked forth this evening with some powerful help, and it's a revelation of theatre and acting craft nestled within a revival. You'll see nothing like it anytime soon. In Austin terms it's as if Norman Blumensaadt's devoted exploration of …
Review: Macbeth by City Theatre Company
by Michael Meigs
Published on October 15, 2013
In the final battle to the death, in the gripping choreography of Nick Lawson with its dramatic finish, Dave Yakubik and Brian Villalobos have the audience flinching, perched on the edge of the seats.
Shakespeare's most frequently performed works have remained vivid and vital for centuries in part because he creates characters caught in life's fundamental, archetypical dilemmas. Young lovers Romeo and Juliet rebel against constraints of family and society. Hamlet, the solitary hero, disappointed and deceived, seeks justification for taking action against a sea of troubles. Lear rages against old age and arrogant indifferent children. And Macbeth is a good man undone by temptation who's headed straight to …
Review: Mr. Marmalade by Two Beards Theatre Company
by Michael Meigs
Published on October 08, 2013
On my way to Mr. Marmalade, the first production staged by the Two Beards Theatre Company, I was momentarily disconcerted to find the parking lot overflowing already at the Salvage Vanguard Theatre. Then I remembered that Trouble Puppet was doing Connor Hopkins' The Head at the same venue. Mr. Marmalade occupied the small studio theatre just to the right of the entrance, and when they didn't find my name among the reservations, they asked which …
Review: The Head by Trouble Puppet Theatre Company
by David Glen Robinson
Published on October 06, 2013
The seductive appeal is definitely to the inner child, even though the entertainment is strictly for adults. We view this parade of images from our own limbic systems.
A miniature mechanical man emerges from a cloud of steam. A ruffled orange and yellow bird squawks obscenities and defecates in the eyepieces of a telescope. A lizard-like thing in wrought iron knee boots flies around the room mounting inanimate objects until someone threatens to get the hose. These are all images in The Head, the latest production of puppet master Connor Hopkins’ Trouble Puppet Theatre Company, set inside a human being’s mind. The model …
Review: The Book of Mormon by touring company
by Michael Meigs
Published on October 05, 2013
Mix in with those absurdly over-the-top contrasts all the combustible hormones of adolescence, rev it all up with high-energy clowning and Las-Vegas-style choreography, and you can just ride over the cognitive bumps in the road.
The crowd at Bass Concert Hall at the University of Texas was bubbling with gleeful expectation for the opening performance in Austin of The Book of Mormon tour. They responded enthusiastically throughout the evening and went away plainly satisfied with the spectacle and the storytelling. Those South Park guys did it again, as confirmed by all those Tony awards, including the one for best musical, using their cheerful cynicism and satire to tap into the …