Ranking right up there with Oscar Wilde’s “The Importance of Being Earnest” as ‘possibly the funniest play ever written’ to some, Joe Orton’s “What the Butler Saw” earned cries of “filth!” from members of the audience at its initial run at The Queen’s Theatre in London in 1969. In its press release, Stage West describes … Continue reading »
Tagged with stage west …
Take That, Scott Walker @ Stage West
Stage West responds to its audiences and extends Red Hot Patriot: the Kick-Ass Wit of Molly Ivins 6/22-24 Stage West is pleased to announce that it has a new box office record-holder with its production of Red Hot Patriot, the Kick-Ass Wit of Molly Ivins, by Margaret Engel and Allison Engel. The show has been … Continue reading »
An August, Osage State of Mind: Letts Ride at WaterTower
The Big Apple’s critical embrace: Charles Isherwood from his 12/5/2007 Broadway review in the NY Times: “A fraught, densely plotted saga of an Oklahoma clan in a state of near-apocalyptic meltdown, “August” is probably the most exciting new American play Broadway has seen in years. Oh, forget probably: It is, flat-out, no asterisks and without … Continue reading »
Straight from Cupid’s Bow: The Real Thing @ Stage West
Please vote today for Critical Rant in the “Great Arts Blogger Challenge 2012“ The thing is very real at Stage West. Stoppard is the divine wordsmith; music works as cosmic intensifier. If music be the food of love…. So, what is it we want so desperately from love? The real thing. The real thing. In … Continue reading »
Anchor or Albatross? New York’s Cultural Capital
New York has long been considered the cultural capital of America. Is it still? If not, where? Chew on that image a while: “the cultural capital of America”. With the diversity of regional influences – cultural heritage, geography, job markets, educational opportunities, to name a few – it’s hard to say that any one location … Continue reading »
Stage West: Occupy New Jerusalem?
That radical Baruch de Spinoza, on trial at Stage West…. And now, from the brave folks who brought the Dallas-Fort Worth region Frayn’s Copenhagen and Mamet’s November, comes another spell-binding brain-teaser of theatrical invention: David Ives’ New Jerusalem. Deepest bows to Stage West in Fort Worth for continuing a tradition of producing plays that challenge … Continue reading »
Best of 2011: On Stage in North Texas
Reflecting on North Texas’ stage performance in 2011, I take pride in recognizing the region’s senior directors. They bring immense creative vision and studied, practiced, pragmatic understanding of their craft to the arts community. They inspire performers, critics, advocates and patrons, alike, to “keep after it”, even as we have less than a 9% share … Continue reading »
Bursting Bellicosity’s Bubble @ Stage West
Any play that draws inspiration from Virgil’s Aeneid perks my ears up. One of GB Shaw’s early commercial “hits”, Arms and the Man, first produced in 1891, plucks its title from the opening lines of The Aeneid (Arma virumque cano: literally, I sing of arms and the man, meaning “I sing of the deeds of … Continue reading »
Tempest in a Galactic Teapot: Dallas Theater Center Does Shakespeare, Again
Chamblee Ferguson is Dallas Theater Center’s Marathon Man. Is there any style of stage performance he can’t master with skill, dedication, depth and passionate lyricism? As brimming over with detailed, ornate stage settings and effects as DTC’s current production of Shakespeare’s The Tempest may be, Ferguson negates the need for any of it and would … Continue reading »
Playing Foote-sie: Stage West & Dallas Theater Center
North Texas’ iconic Horton Foote Festival established itself on solid ground this past two weekends with entirely different productions opening at Stage West in Fort Worth and at the Dallas Theater Center’s Wyly Theatre. Running the full gamut from intimate to epic, these productions demonstrate eloquently why Foote’s work is worthy of a celebration festival … Continue reading »
