Tagged with David Mamet …

Diverse, Dynamic, Dramatic Dallas Welcomes the TCG Conference

“It’s death by art,” she grins, ruefully. Referring to her killer arts schedule as Kitchen Dog Theater’s Co-Artistic Director, Tina Parker welcomes Theatre Communications Group’s annual national conference descending this week on Dallas TX in stride. Multi-tasking? No problemo for this canny, creative, ‘wondrous’ woman…. She just opened two major productions at her unique theatre … Continue reading →

Petal-Plucking Princess Wars Please at Fun House Theatre

  Youth theatre with a raw edge? Find it by the compost heap-full at Fun House Theatre and Film in Plano. Performing through May12th, this Sunday, Jeff Swearingen’s cadre of talented, dedicated mademoiselles present Daffodil Girls, his comic parody adaptation of David Mamet’s celebrated drama Glengarry Glen Ross and come out Olympic champs. Swearingen turns … Continue reading →

The 47% Solution: “November” @ Oklahoma City Repertory Theatre

And now for more political news, Oklahoma City Repertory Theatre wades into the fray with a timely, hilarious production of “November”, running through September 23 in its intimate downstairs CitySpace Theatre. Imagine combining the most controversial aspects of Herman Cain, Donald Trump and Teddy Kennedy into one relentlessly swashbuckling  “flimflammer-in chief”.  President Charles Smith dominates … Continue reading →

Of Wooden Nickels & Fort Knox Gold: American Buffalo

Heads or tails? Al Pacino, Robert Duvall, John Savage, Kenneth McMillan, William H. Macy, JT Walsh, William Petersen, Tracy Letts, Dustin Hoffman, Dennis Franz: names of some of the toughest, most charismatic, versatile and well-versed actors on the modern stage or screen who have performed in David Mamet’s gritty, profanity-laced, iconic working class drama American … Continue reading →

Sticky Wicket: Echo’s Mauritius

Why do some playwrights think it’s a good thing to people their works with selfish, unpleasant, generally repellent characters? Even Edward Albee and David Mamet, masters of creating malevolence and unadulterated nastiness in the folks that fill their texts, give their reprobate characters redeeming qualities and balance their vitriol with more sympathetic types. It’s not … Continue reading →

Upstanding Start: Upstart Productions at the Green Zone

If playwright Lonergan were firing up the metaphorical grill to barbecue for his drinkin’, partyin’ buddies from the 1980’s, he’d marinade the bloody meat in a liberal dose of angst-ridden narcissistic nihilism with a liberal salt shaker’s worth of misogyny. Master playwright David Mamet he is not, bludgeoning the audience with fine-tuned balance of savagery and cunning in imagery and character. Yet this initial stage endeavor shows the promise that filled his coffers with later film ventures. It also affords a young company like Upstart Theater nuanced fodder to sink their artistic teeth into, particularly under the wise guidance of a seasoned director like Rene Moreno. Look for more high caliber performance from these “upstarts.”
Rate this dish? Medium rare to extremely well done. Continue reading →