Posted in January 2010 …

A Sense of Samsara: Adaptations in Reflection

OMG, they’ve done it again. The Dallas Theater Center has just mounted another peppy world premiere musical full of attractive, dancing, singing, and casually attired youths under the guise of classical adaptation. This time it’s an even looser nod to Aristophanes’ Lysistrata than their last Fall’s production of Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream. It’s set … Continue reading →

Bloody, Jolly Good Fun: The 39 Steps

Dallas audiences, are you ready for some bloody, jolly good fun? The national tour of twice Tony and Drama Desk winner The Thirty Nine Steps, adapted from Alfred Hitchcock’s 1935 film thriller, blesses the Dallas Summer Musicals‘ Majestic Theatre with a fast, furious performance you won’t want to miss. A loose adaptation of the Hitchcock … Continue reading →

Business of Funny: Laughter on the 23rd Floor

Why laughter, why on the 23rd floor? Neil Simon’s comedy, Laughter on the 23rd Floor, which opened on Broadway in 1993 starring Nathan Lane, is a love letter in play form about Simon’s days as a comedy writer on the 1950’s Your Show of Shows. Simon portrays himself as the youthful narrator Lucas Brickman, the … Continue reading →

The Hollow Play: August: Osage County

“Whatever was disappearing had already disappeared, and no one saw it go. This country. This experiment. This hubris. And no one saw it go.” A hurricane force gale cycle of illusion, delusion and half-forgotten truth sweeps over the Westins of Oklahoma, a large dysfunctional family depicted in Tracy Letts’ August: Osage County. It envelops the … Continue reading →

Audacity Theatre Lab: A Second Helping, Dish It Up

Gimme dat LUV! Dallas’ sweetest, funniest on stage romance springs back to life, this time at Teatro Dallas’ space off I-35. Audacity Theatre Lab’s Hello, Human Female regales its audience with farce, drag performance, true love, weird science and a hilarious twisted plot as the trials and tribulations of 37 year old virgin Tamela (Arianna … Continue reading →

Seattle Shakespeare’s Electra-Illumination

“I call upon Persephone and the Furies: bring back my brother. My life is a river, it floods with grief….” Seattle Shakespeare’s Electra, in Sophocles’ play of that name, tells it like it is and screams and wails her raging sorrow. No holds barred, she bears her ravaged soul, her desperate anguish, her longing to … Continue reading →

Limited Vistas: Amy’s View at Theatre Three

Sir David Hare, internationally honored actor, playwright, stage and film director, is considered one of the finest British playwrights living today. Earning a BAFTA Award (1979), the New York Drama Critics Circle Award (1983), the Berlin Film Festival Golden Bear (1985), the Olivier Award (1990), and the London Theatre Critics’ Award (1990), he has seen … Continue reading →