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“The Talk: A Pep Rally Purity Play” by Grackle Jack
In The Talk, writer and performer Lilly Percifield becomes five different characters in 60 minutes to lead the audience through a rowdy Christian high school pre-dance pep rally. (How does she do it? By owning several wigs and wearing layers and layers of costumes on top of each other.) Percifield’s characters take on cheerleading moves,…
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“Unbury Your Gays” at Broad Theatre
I would say that about half of Unbury Your Gays by Maxine Dillon is made of a good play. The good half – the important half – is a nostalgic coming-of-age, slice-of-life story of teenage feelings, frustrations, and friendship. It explores that awful age of being so full of feelings that you could burst, and…
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“I Wanna Be A F*cking Princess” at Ground Floor Theatre
I Wanna Be A F*cking Princess by Jenny Connell Davis is a beautiful picture of friendship, even when friendship doesn’t look that beautiful. At first, I thought its silly dance numbers and frantic energy felt cliché. But Ground Floor Theatre director Patti Neff-Tiven clearly knows how to balance the frantic with the heartfelt; by the…
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Announcing the Austin Theatre Critics Awards Nominees
The secret is out! Over the last year, a number of theater enthusiasts, critics/reviewers, and writers, with many thanks to Sharron at ATXTheatre for organizing, have been meeting and emailing about our favorite theater performances in the Austin area. Now, we’re excited to share who we all agree are the best of the best! Winners…
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“Venus in Fur” at Dirty Gold Theatre
In Venus in Fur‘s opening scene, director/playwright Thomas (Dylan Hoeffler) complains that none of the actresses who’ve auditioned for him that day are good enough or smart enough to play Vanda, the love interest in his new adaptation of Venus in Furs, which is definitely not autobiographical S&M pornography, thank you very much. Thunder rolls.…
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“Dirty Rotten Scoundrels” at Austin Playhouse
Dirty Rotten Scoundrels is based on the ridiculous 1980s movie of the same name where two con men work with each other, then work against each other, get a monkey boy involved, and eventually get beat at their own game by a better con artist than themselves. The musical, which came out in 2005-ish, isn’t…
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“Company” by Roustabout Theatre Company
The current production of Company by Roustabout Theatre – another brand-new venture in the Austin scene – is directed, music directed, and choreographed by Adam Roberts, and produced by and starring Seth David Mitchell as Bobby. I’m not really a Sondheim fan, to my husband’s chagrin, but I suppose Company would be my favorite if…
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“The Winter’s Tale” by Twelve Satyr Shakespeare
Twelve Satyr Shakespeare is one of the newest theatre companies in town (they seem to be popping up overnight), a venture started by recent Shakespeare at Winedale alums Leo Weiser and Andrew Wissman. For their first performance, Twelve Satyr staged The Winter’s Tale – an intrepid choice, as it’s not one of the Bard’s more…
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“Hamlet” by Walking Shadow Shakespeare Project
Hamlet is a hard show. It’s hard on the actors (title role especially) and the directors. Every choice a production makes, perhaps more than most Shakespeare plays, is going to garner an opinion – How long will an audience sit still for? Which lines are too iconic to cut? Should any lines be cut? How…
Bat City Stage Reviews
A review blog for live theater in Austin, Texas