Recent Reviews
Review: The Realness (a break beat play) by New Manifest Theatre Company
by Justin M. West
Published on January 23, 2019
Refreshingly exuberant, THE REALNESS is a solid first outing from the company. A bit rough around the edges, it's passionate, sincere and unafraid. And so are the cast and crew.
The Realness, the inaugural offering from the New Manifest Theatre Company, is something of a mixed bag. In many ways the show succeeds, but it’s hampered by a script from Idris Goodwin that is overtly redolent of the 1990's and painfully light on substance. The Realness follows T.O (Justin Whitener), a college grad from the suburbs for whom a transplant into the big city is a shock to the senses. As a black kid from …
Review: The Magic Fire by Different Stages
by Michael Meigs
Published on January 19, 2019
The script of THE MAGIC FIRE is a gem, rich of character and powerfully evocative, presented as a memory play by the narrator Lise, unashamedly an avatar of the playwright herself.
Norman Blumensaadt's Different Stages, active in Austin since 1981, isn't a repertory company in the strict sense. It's a creation of Norman's initiative and vast knowledge of mostly twentieth-century theatre literature of the U.S. and U.K., homeless and itinerant, beloved of a small but appreciative clan of actors and theatre goers. Different Stages offers its aficionados evenings of theatre they're unlikely to get elsewhere. Their current production, Lilian Groag's deeply moving The Magic Fire, has …
Review: By Our Hands by Overtime Theater
by Michael Meigs
Published on January 17, 2019
In a plot devised to emphasize muscle and avoid weapons a defeated warrior can recover from a beating or a knockout, and most of them do. But toward the end the story takes a quick, violent and nasty turn..
Austin has no monopoly on small-scale edgy innovative theatre, folks, and San Antonio’s Overtime Theatre is proof of that. The Overtime runs year round with premieres or remounts of all-original work. Judging from the titles, posters and the PR, the Overtime appeals to audiences and performers looking for something distinctly not mainstream, folks who are receptive to parodies, takeoffs, mystery, sci fi and live serials. Performances are almost always scheduled for Fridays and Saturdays, sometimes …
Review: Paradise by touring company
by Samantha Hendel
Published on January 14, 2019
A visiting “For Profit Prophet” promises a financial revolution if the people of Paradise agree to use a reality TV show to raise money. The townsfolk aren’t completely sold; they’re just good ol’ hillbillies who enjoy their way of life.
Austin Playhouse is hosting LA-based Ruskin Theatre’s bluegrass musical comedy Paradise: A Town of Sinners and Saints through February 3. This is apparently a first for Austin’s #2 commercial stage, housed for several years now at the former Highland Mall. For well over a decade Don Toner, his daughter Lora Toner Haddock, his son Mike Toner and associates have relied on a stalwart company of local artists and a strong clientele of subscribers to establish …
Review: Fun Home by Ground Floor Theatre
by Michael Meigs
Published on December 25, 2018
For the sake of the artists, the theatre, and the significant thematics of FUN HOME, the reports of sold-out houses were encouraging. For me this story of intimate sensibilities and missed reconciliation was an acoustic mess.
There is a charming love story at the center of Fun Home, the musical based on Alison Bechdel's ground-breaking graphic novel of the same name. Taylor Flanagan, playing Bechdel, makes a new friend at Oberlin College when she hesitantly visits the Gay Students Union. Joan-- attractive, open and friendly -- is the bridge by whom Alison discovers love. Meeting the sweet generosity of Joan, jumpy, inhibited Alison begins to see a way forward to fulfillment …
Review: The Santaland Diaries by Zach Theatre
by Justin M. West
Published on December 20, 2018
J. Robert Mooreas Crumpet the Elf will roast a good portion of those in attendance before the night is over. It’s all in good fun, and Moore should get a hell of a lot of credit for being able to roll with heckling, keep it funny, and get the show going again without missing a beat.
As a young boy, Christmas to me meant anticipation. Excitement. The joy of wadded up wrapping paper being stuffed by my parents into a plastic bag as I eagerly tried to figure out how to connect my spiffy new Nintendo Entertainment System to the TV. Yes, we used plastic bags. Plastic! Egregious of my family, I know. Free range, homeopathic, kale-infused garbage bags didn’t exist back then. I’m sure that shit is busy still not …