Recent Reviews
Review: Early Girl by Paladin Theatre Company
by Michael Meigs
Published on August 26, 2010
'Early Girl' takes place in an eternal now. Kava has written a "chick play" in which the outside world is unexplained and largely unheeded.
Charlie Stites is a big guy with a big heart whose most recent stage outings have been as braggarts and sexual boasters. He counters that image somewhat with his intent to right the acting balance between the sexes by staging this drama by actress Carolyn Kava, done to respectful New York reviews in the mid-1980s. Stites writes in the program that he was struck "by the dearth of interesting parts available for [women]," making "the …
Review: The Fantasticks by Trinity Street Players
by Michael Meigs
Published on August 25, 2010
This attractive little show, minimal in props and effects but lively in music and clowning, played wonderfully well in the intimate, close-up space of the Trinity Street black box.
The Trinity Street Players call the third-floor theatre space at the First Baptist Church "the black box theatre." Now that I've attended three performances in that space, it seems to me that the appellation is a bit too generic. "Black box" suggests a void, perhaps one that's wrapped in mystery. A better reference for this long-running Theatre Ministry might be "jewel box." When we were living in Geneva, Switzerland, in the opening years of this …
Review: Circle Mirror Transformation by Hyde Park Theatre
by Michael Meigs
Published on July 19, 2010
It's a bit of an inside joke. A cast of accomplished actors is impersonating a group of non-actors who are seeking the mysterious meanings and unknown fulfillments of the dramatic experience.
The Village Voice annointed Annie Baker's comedy its Obie (off-broadway) award this year for best new American play and gave another Obie to the cast for their ensemble work. So you can expect an amusing evening when you stop by the Hyde Park Theatre to see them do their second play this year by the 29-year-old Annie B. They delivered her Body Awareness just this past April. Director Ken Webster and the gang like to …
Review: Two Rooms by Rapscallions of the Periphery
by Michael Meigs
Published on July 13, 2010
Maybe it's provoking drama, but it's not thought-provoking, because Blessing's self-righteous assumptions play to the paranoia of those who look for simple home explanations for extremely complicated clashes abroad.
Maybe I'm the wrong person to review this play. I did accept the Rapscallions' invitation to see it, and I rearranged my schedule before departing Austin so as to get there for the opening. I empathized immediately with the leads Scot Friedman and Val Frazee as they explored for us the intimate pain for a married couple of his arbitrary abduction in mid-80s Beirut. That core story is powerful because of its simplicity: abrupt separation, …
Review: Spider's Web by Different Stages
by Michael Meigs
Published on July 09, 2010
We enjoy Clarissa's elaborate persuasion and pretending, as well as the cover story's eventual collapse under investigation. The cat and mouse game is not between criminal and detective but rather between a spontaneous fantasizer and the minions of the law.
You don't see much of Agatha Christie in the United States any more, except perhaps in public libraries and the occasional revival of one of her many plays. Airport newstands rarely offer murder as genteel puzzle any more, instead stacking up thick paperbacks with vibrant covers, done by Clive Custler or Sue Grafton or any of a number of other contemporary producers of blockbusters. Different Stages does us a service by providing an accomplished and …
Review: re:Psyche by Secondhand Theatre
by Michael Meigs
Published on July 06, 2010
In the closing scene, suspended and annihilated by the force of pure beauty, Verity Branco is the figure in a danse macabre, with the lovely shape of her bones absorbing her flesh.
Secondhand Theatre's re:Psyche, playing at the Blue Theatre until July 18, reminds me of a Swiss circus. In late spring and summer, medium-sized towns and villages in the Swiss mountains awaken to find a weathered Little Top has appeared on a vacant municipal lot, surrounded by a miscellany of campers and caravans. The troupe rarely numbers more than ten performers, perhaps with three or four musicians. Practised professionals, they are initiates in make-believe, gymnastics and …