AUSTIN THEATER REVIEWS

GONDAL is presented by the University of Texas at Austin's Theatre and Dance department, as part of UT New Theatre showcase. Now in its tenth year, UTNT presents newly created works of theatre from UT graduate playwrights. Created to facilitate these emerging artists, UTNT serves as the jumping off ...

Celebrating their 20th anniversary production with ROBOT DADDY, Electronic Planet Ensemble (ELP) gives an exciting performance at The Vortex theatre....

With the current production of this show at Austin Playhouse the company requires, or even demands, that the audience leave the theater with a multitude of thoughts whirling in their mind. I left the theater in two minds about what I have seen. There were elements and moments that viscerally affec...

It is no wonder that director Joshua Denning enjoys the larger shows; he has the ability to do them well. Denning and the rest of this impressive faculty have achieved new heights with ME & MY GIRL; their cast has spoiled me for all others. Run, don't walk…catch one of the final performances befo...

OLD TIMES is an enigmatic play by Nobel Laureate Harold Pinter that centers on a trio of characters and produced flawlessly by Austin Shakespeare at Austin's Long Center....

Fledgling theatre company, RKJB Entertainment's production of an original work by Robert King, Jr, FOR THE LOVE OF MAHALIA, currently playing at the Boyd Vance Theatre, has problems, but ultimately its message is poignant and important....

ZACH Theatre's production of ELEPHANT AND PIGGIE'S, WE ARE IN A PLAY delightfully brings characters from the popular early reader's book series by Mo Willems to life....

NEVA is the latest offering from Austin's Theatre En Bloc. Written by Chilean playwright, Guillermo Calderon, this politically charged play is a brutally honest and timely look at the precarious relationship between art, politics, and social justice. Set in Russia at the dawn of the revolution, this...

WEST SIDE STORY is historically one of the most important of American musicals, with a book by Arthur Laurents, music by Leonard Bernstein and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim. Its conception as a heavy dance piece came from original choreographer and director Jerome Robbins and is loosely based on Willia...

Texas State University Musical Theatre Department has long been an exemplary program, but with the debut of THE WORLD ACCORDING TO SNOOPY, they move into the realm of the best professional companies around....

Nestled away in the hills of Wimberely, the EmilyAnn Theatre is its own kind of secret garden. Standing as a lasting tribute to the memory of Emily Ann Rolling, this landmark of the community has been fulfilling its mission of 'Reinvesting in the human spirit through the performing arts' since 1998...

Scottish Rite Theatre has long been one of Austin's premier children's theatres, PUFF THE MAGIC DRAGON continues their rich tradition of excellence with an enchanting tale....

TITLE OF SHOW is a one-act musical, with music and lyrics by Jeff Bowen and a book by Hunter Bell. The show is pretty much the Urban Dictionary definition of "meta". It not only chronicles its own creation as an entry in the New York Musical Theatre Festival, it also chronicles the struggles of the ...

HOT BELLY, a new play by Diana Lynn Small, is receiving a rolling world-premiere between paper chairs, happening first here in Austin, and then by the NYC/Chicago based company, The Syndicate. While Small has been a frequent paper chairs collaborator, this is the company's first time to produce one ...

THR3E ZISTERS by Baltimore-based playwright Lola Pierson was conceived and directed by Yury Urnov of D.C.'s Woolly Mammoth and was first mounted by Salvage Vanguard Theatre in 2015. That smash hit is currently receiving a remount at The Off Center. The original production won 4 Austin Critics Table ...

THE GREAT SOCIETY, Robert Schenkkan's conclusion to the epic tale he began with All The Way, examines the remainder of LBJ's term as president and the turbulent years of the Johnson White House. It made its debut in 2014 at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival and is now receiving its Texas debut at Zach...

CRIMES OF THE HEART, produced by City Theatre, is the Pulitzer prize-winning comedy by Beth Henley. Originally premiering in 1979, the show ran on Broadway in 1981 and garnered a New York Drama Critics' Circle Award for Best American Play. In 1986, a film adaptation starring Jessica Lange, Diane Kea...

Sarah Saltwick's new play, A PERFECT ROBOT, now in its World Premiere production at The Vortex, is a smart, witty and engaging examination of some familiar themes. At the core, this is a look at the question of the creation of sentience and control. If you create something with free will, can you be...

CAGES by Leonard Manzella, is a prison drama receiving its second production here in Austin, by Southwest Theatre Productions, under the direction of Kat Sparks. The play is based on true stories about the treatment of mental patients in California's prison system, gathered by Manzella during his ti...

Some comedies tickle the funnybone, some evoke a warmth that makes your heart glow, Different Stages current production, THE NOISY NEIGHBORS OR IL CAMPIELLO by Carlo Goldoni and adapted by Richard Nelson succeeds on both levels, resulting in a completely delightful evening at the theatre....

HIR is a socially-constructed, gender-neutral, politically-correct pronoun unofficially used in place of him/her or his/her. It is also an extremely dark and angry comedy by Obie Award winning artist and playwright Taylor Mac that made the New York Time's Top Ten Best Theater of 2015 list, about a h...

LOOSE GRAVEL, a new work by Frank Wo/Men Collective, is a collaborative performance piece by a group of Austin and New York emerging artists that is part dance and part short theatrical scenes that span the gamut from comedic to absurdist and back to dramatic. The work is a gender fluid piece of thi...

CONSTELLATIONS is a British drama by playwright, Nick Payne and is presented in Austin by Street Corner Arts. Originally premiering in 2012, the play is an exploration of love, fate, and quantum physics. After mesmerizing audiences and receiving rave reviews from London critics, it went on to win th...

A TUNA CHRISTMAS, currently playing at the Georgetown Palace Playhouse, is a brilliant pairing of actors and hilarious writing that will have you laughing through the holidays....

Performers love nothing more than to poke fun of themselves. In the McCallum Fine Arts Academy's production of MOON OVER BUFFALO, director Joshua Denning has assembled this small cast of exceptionally talented teenagers to do just that. But make no mistake; the young artists at McCallum are not typ...