Review: FIRE WORK at The VORTEX Theatre
A thrillingly unpredictable dystopic comedy, now playing through September 26.
This review was written by Tyler Mabry, a new BWW reviewer, and is being hosted on Victoria Schwarz's page.
Mary Glen Fredrick’s incandescent new play FIRE WORK, now playing at The VORTEX as part of the National New Play Network Rolling World Premiere, is a scorching anti-capitalist fable. Funny, poignant, and angry by turns, this is one wild and wonderful ride of a theatrical experience.
Truthfully, the many twists and turns of Fredrick’s brilliant script are best left unspoiled. I highly recommend walking into the theater without knowing too much in advance, because FIRE WORK is built to reveal itself gradually – this is a show that trusts the audience to figure out the rules of its fantastical world as the plot unfolds.
At the center of the story is Eleanor, a young factory worker exhausted from years of toil, as she struggles to survive within an unjust system. When Eleanor (in a searing and heartfelt performance by Allegra Jade Fox) meets a group of revolutionaries promising change, she responds in ways that surprise herself as well as her partner Bartholomew (René Otero).
FIRE WORK’s dystopic industrial world is both familiar and other-worldy, and it is brought vibrantly to life through Bonnie Cullum’s direction, Jason Amato’s production design, and the stellar ensemble work of the supporting cast. As Eleanor meets the would-be revolutionaries, we are introduced to the charismatic leader Fox (Julie Moore), the formidable tech specialist Lula (Aurora Villarreal), the silent but highly expressive Tug (Blaise Ricin), and the innocent Geraldina (Alaithia Velez). These performances are uniformly textured and emotionally anchored, and we care deeply about these characters’ struggles – we want a better life for them, even when their revolutionary activities seem ill-planned or morally compromised. The production also features an unforgettable scene-stealing turn from the Factory Boss, which I won’t spoil by describing any further.
The VORTEX’s production of FIRE WORK includes a killer, grunge-inflected score by Johann Solo, with additional “Xybermancer Party Music” contributed by Chad Salvata.
FIRE WORK is billed as a comedy, and there was certainly a great deal of laughter in the theater on opening weekend. But in addition to the “fun stuff” – the narrative hijinks, the playground games of “Eat the Rich,” the dream of revolution – be prepared for some heaviness, and some serious stakes. This is a dystopia, after all, and FIRE WORK is unflinchingly honest about the potential cost of challenging entrenched systems of violence and exploitation.
FIRE WORK
Written by Mary Glen Fredrick
The VORTEX Theatre, 2307 Manor Rd., Austin
September 5-26, 2026
Running Time: 100 minutes with no intermission
Tickets: $15-39; https://vortexrep.org/39-fire-work
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