Level Ground Arts, subtitled Theatre Out of Balance, has produced highly unusual, entertaining productions for about two years in Dallas, at various locations. I admire the group’s gutsy determination to carve a new niche in local performance art, with original shows and adaptations that nobody else would dream to take on. Shakespeare off the beaten … Continue reading
Posted in September 2010 …
Matt & Bill’s Excellent Adventure @ The Ochre House
“I dare say if it wasn’t for Joan’s death, I would not be writing.” William Burroughs Don’t get caught unaware. Step into Matt Posey’s private lair The Ochre House on Exposition and realize you’re in for a mind-bending experience. No Dallas stage venue offers more with such pure imagination. Posey shares the tiny, unassuming space, … Continue reading
2 Gents of Sharona: Shakespeare Dallas’ Pretty One
Ooh my little pretty one, pretty one. When you gonna give me some time, Sil-via? Ooh you make my motor run, my motor run. Gun it comin’ off the line Sil-via Never gonna stop, give it up… My my my i yi woo. M M M My Sil-via…! Director Raphael Parry and Shakespeare Dallas just … Continue reading
Echo Theatre doing Well: not so much
Well! Well? Well, here’s how one critic feels about Lisa Kron’s Well, in performance at the Bath House Cultural Center with Echo Theatre through September 25. Why is unapologetic, unrepentant, navel-gazing so trendy among playwrights? It’s their answer to reality TV? Might compete with You Tube? I haven’t a clue. Yes, I realize [title of … Continue reading
Cigarettes, Chocolate Milk & Shakespeare
“Cigarettes And Chocolate Milk” by Rufus Wainwright “cigarettes and chocolate milk these are just a couple of my cravings everything it seems i like’s a little bit stronger a little bit thicker a little bit harmful for me if i should buy jellybeans have to eat them all in just one sitting everything it seems … Continue reading
Tread sans Dread: Stage West’s Sure-footed ‘The 39 Steps’
What is it with live stage comedy in Ft. Worth? There must be something in the water. When Ft. Worth based theatre companies produce dramas, they do fine work. When they take on comedy, they launch into supersonic dimension. Running through September 26, Stage West presents a fearlessly funny production of Alfred Hitchcock’s The 39 … Continue reading
2009-10 Honorees: DFW Theater Critics Forum
Spirited conversation and congenial laughter, give and take, sober observations and impassioned advocacy over a tasty potluck lunch at Martha Heimberg’s stately Lakewood home made two hours simply fly by. Here’s the consensus of what worked well in regional theatre since September 2009, what we critics saw of it. DALLAS-FORT WORTH THEATER CRITICS FORUM AWARD … Continue reading
Video Narrative: Assignment #1
Images from the web, films or video that represent the following feelings, concepts or place: Home La Riviere du hibou (An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge), 1962 (Ambrose Bierce story/ Robert Enrico film); Watership Down, 1978 (Richard Adams book, Martin Rosen film); Les Triplettes de Bellville (The Triplets of Bellville) 2003 (Sylvain Chomet directs). In … Continue reading
Crucifer Funk: Theatre Three’s Steamy Sherlock
Theatre Three kicks off its subscription season with Tony nominated Paul Giovanni’s The Crucifer of Blood, billed as a steampunk Sherlock Holmes production, awash with dark, brooding visuals and cranked along with creaking, hand-turned set changes that thrust out from unexpected nooks and crannies at a-kilter angles. ALL very elemental and imaginatively pleasing, Dr. Watson. … Continue reading
criticalrant.com Alexandra Bonifield 