Recent Reviews
Review: Lysistrata by Chaotic Theatre Company
by Michael Meigs
Published on June 10, 2010
Chaotic Theatre's Lysistrata is an intriguing two-speed interpretation. The thesis -- never really exploited or completely explained -- is that the events we are witnessing take place in some undefined future time.
Lysistrata is a surprise in the compact canon of Greek drama. It's Aristophanes' clever satire of two usually unassociated aspects of manliness -- the male as warrior and the male as lover. Swordsmen in each case, although of quite different aspect. There's a historical context of great seriousness to it involving wars between Greek city states in B.C. 413. That may partly explain why this text was awarded only third place in the theatrical competition …
Review: Machinal by Paper Chairs
by Michael Meigs
Published on June 09, 2010
The pivotal scene between Crossno and Gabriel Luna, playing the casual seducer wafted with the winds of freedom and disengagement, is a beautifully understated passage, completely convincing in portraying the allure of this affair embraced by the young wife and mother.
This production of Machinal by Sophie Treadwell, currently playing at the Salvage Vanguard Theatre, is a memorable staging of a 1928 shocker -- which in 21st century terms means that it is endearingly two dimensional. Back in the 1920's,most American theatre art was unexciting, conventional or cast in moral platitudes. At the same time, newspaper reporting of crimes was sensationalistic and very big business. In a time when both radio and cinema were still new, …
Review: Becky's New Car by Zach Theatre
by Michael Meigs
Published on June 04, 2010
Preview night was not an adventure for Becky -- at least, not beyond the intermission -- and we walked away with the uneasy feeling that our heroine Becky Foster was stuck a long way from happiness with no towing service to call.
Zach's post card calls it "A Revved-up Comic Adventure!" The website is even more breathless, promising "[a] life-affirming comedy about an eccentric millionaire who offers Becky the keys to a brand new life [in][. . . . ] a fantastically funny exploration about class, wealth and selling out during Becky's wild ride through a clever twist of events. Huge laughs, hairpin plot turns and a story with the pedal to the metal. Buckle up!" So …
Review: Jacques Brel Is Alive and Well and Living in Paris by Austin Playhouse
by Michael Meigs
Published on June 02, 2010
If you concentrate on the words, you may get a pale and distant impression of the genius who was Jacques Brel.
This is a pleasant and inconsequential little evening of cabaret. Go and listen to the Austin Playhouse staging of Blau and Shuman's 1968 compendium Jacques Brel Is Alive and Well and Living in Paris. If you concentrate on the words, you may get a pale and distant impression of the genius who was Jacques Brel. These are the problems of translation. The music stands outside language, but Brel's stories and lyrics are deeply embedded in …
Review: American Volunteers by Johnny Meyers
by Michael Meigs
Published on May 26, 2010
American Volunteers has the feeling of authenticity in the details -- the guy talk, the stress, the confusion of war, and the yearning for home. I just wish it were a better play.
The hero's aura that trails after the 27-year-old John Meyer looks to be authentic. The man was an Army ranger -- no small accomplishment. Only the toughest and most apt--men only--finish the 60-day training course at Ft. Benning, in the Georgia mountains and in the Florida swamps. They are in constant physical training and in simulated combat operations, often functioning 20 hours a day. The lore is that the stresses age these men prematurely. Candidates …
Review: The Red Balloon by Tongue and Groove Theatre
by Michael Meigs
Published on May 24, 2010
The only real kid in sight, it seems, is the lead -- Gricelda Silva, the bright-eyed young woman playing the bright-eyed boy befriended by the faithful balloon. With her slight figure, fresh face and utter concentration, she is like a sylph, one of Paracelsus' elemental beings of the air.
In 1956 the 34-year-old French filmmaker Albert Lamorisse wrote and filmed the slim, imaginative, 34-minute fantasy The Red Balloon. His son Pascal played the central role, that of a quiet, lonely schoolboy who discovers a magical red balloon -- one that recognizes him, follows him with the simplicity and loyalty of a pet dog, and provides an escape from the emptiness of barren city life. Lamorisse's daughter Sabine played the little girl who appears with …