Theater

Upgrading the Bard

Lauren Smart·
Leave it to Austin’s maverick troupe, the Rude Mechs, to tackle Shakespeare’s “problem plays.” Even the Bard’s esteemed canon contains a few duds, and in the new bi-annual series, Fixing Shakespeare, the Rude Mechs attempt to slice and dice these plays into more contemporary, and perhaps more palatable, shows.
AustinTheater

Dark Comedies & Deranged Elves

Tarra Gaines·
How many dance devotées first became entranced with ballet as children, watching a swirl of human snowflakes float across the stage? How many regional theater season subscription holders had their first taste of an onstage happy ending when a gleeful Ebenezer Scrooge saves the Cratchit family through the magic of a giant turkey for Tiny Tim?
Theater

The Head

PHILLIP JOHN·
While the audience found their seats and engaged in casual pre-show conversation, an enormous decaying head with luminous eyes gazed at them from the stage like a contemporary Olmec.
AustinReviewsTheater

All Girls

Holly Beretto·
It’s always a pleasure to see a company present a regional premiere. It’s the sort of thing that makes you feel the people you’re watching take seriously their commitment as artists, that they’re paying attention to what’s happening on the scene.
HoustonReviewsTheater

Prone to Roam

Nancy Zastudil·
Artists are leaving Texas, and for good reason. Touring equals two important things for the state's performing artists: unprecedented exposure and a chance to get off the island. An invitation to perform on the road carries with it a certain cachet, elevating an artist’s hometown reputation and expectations.
DanceMusicTheater

Priscilla Queen of the Desert

Nancy Wozny·
I arrived in my Hobby Center seat feeling listless, in a major mid-week slump, with a pesky bout of melancholy tinged with despair. Then, three fabulous and feathered divas descended from the ceiling bellowing “It's Raining Men” in the opening number of Theatre Under the Stars presentation of Priscilla Queen of the Desert, and suddenly the world kicked it up a few notches.
HoustonReviewsTheater