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Take The Leap: ON THE VERGE with WingSpan Theatre Co.

Jules Verne meets L. Frank Baum meets Steve Martin? Eric Overmyer’s 1980’s comedy On the Verge or The Geography of Yearning charms its audience into traversing across time and place with a prolific immersion of fanciful linguistic invention. Part proto-feminist manifesto, part visionary crossword puzzle from an Escher-like perspective with a droll hint of Burnsian … Continue reading →

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FIT 20: Duelling Duos Disarm with Delight

A disarming duet of duos….FIT20, the Festival of Independent Theatres, opened this past weekend with a dynamite pair of two person shows that emerge from separate ends of the universe but make an entirely simpatico evening of theatrical whimsy for audiences into experiencing sensory immersion perched on the edge of daring. Catch this pair together … Continue reading →

This Cherry Orchard: Mostly the Pits

When I critique a stage play, I consider both the work and the production. A worthy play may get a mediocre or problematic staged treatment. A clumsy or dated, predictable play sometimes surprises with a wonderful enlivenment. It’s not often I see shows that balance out both aspects, for better or for worse. The productions … Continue reading →

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Winning Serendipity Roulette: Trinity Shakespeare 2018

William Shakespeare was dead for forty-four years before any woman was allowed to perform any role in his plays, proclaims Theatre Unbound, a Minnesota women’s theatre company that mounts live stage productions “conceived and created” exclusively by women. Since 1999 this unique company has given opportunities to 137 female directors, 435 female actors, 109 male … Continue reading →

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Breaking BREAD in Addison: Half a Loaf

Dallas native playwright Regina Taylor’s new play Bread,  in its world premiere as commissioned and produced by Water Tower Theatre at the Addison Theatre Centre, promises a tasty treat judging by the enticing scents wafting out from its dramatic oven as it opens. It’s a play you hope to sit back with, inhale deeply and … Continue reading →

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Heaven’s Hope: Isabella Ides’ White Monkey Chronicles

An air of mystical eternity permeates northern California’s Humboldt County. It’s not just the heady aroma of eucalyptus or the mist-shrouded sun floating silent over rolling hills at dawn. A pervasive spirit of ageless magic breathes soulful mantras beneath the surface of Humboldt’s every nook and cranny, vista and shady grove, day and night. Small … Continue reading →

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WHEN THE WIND BLOWS, ROCK THAT CRADLE

This opinionated essay constitutes my review of Brick Road Theatre’s educational, politically relevant, soaring production of LGBT composer Mark Blitzstein’s notorious 1937 play with music The Cradle Will Rock. If you value being an educated (and entertained) theatre patron, don’t miss it. It runs through March 18 at The Cox Playhouse in reconstruction-crazed downtown Plano. … Continue reading →

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STIFF in NYC: Straight Up, Texas-style

Dare to tread where death abounds? The Blighted Heart surely killed the critic as he wrote his front row review of this 9-act torchy blunder. The farce it’s part of, Stiff, is simply to die for. Laughing, that is. Find this frenzied, farcical delite at The Barrow Group Theatre (TBG Theatre) through March 3, 2018 … Continue reading →