Devon Hoffman - Page 2

A family mourns the recent death of their beloved sister/daughter/wife/mother (and famous actress), Kathy.  This melancholy premise is a fitting frame for self-involved character reflections, but not for dramatic energy-especially because the manner of Kathy's death is totally unrelated to the characters's lives.

What is the FUSION forum? A 'cultural collider,' as Dennis Gromelski (Executive Director of FUSION, New Mexico's longest-running professional theater company) explains: Similar to the goals of the particle collider in CERN, the Fusion Forum will bring charged artists together to unfold the secrets of the universe.

Terra Nova's elegant staging and technical elements created an engrossing poetry of action for the brooding tale of men dying in Antarctica. I can't say I warmed-up to all the choices, but warmth wasn't the point of this play. I'll leave it to my reader to see the show and feel the effect of these choices for themselves-yet my own experience lingers in my chest like a shard of ice:

The ensemble of the Aux Dog's Graduate --especially the leads--so thoroughly possessed their characters that I soon forgot entirely 'how Hoffman, et al did it in the movie.' But they went further, delving through the expansive script with raw and ruthless energy so not only did I stop comparing to the film, I stopped comparing to reality--this performance was singular.

The Elevated Soapbox is a monthly speaking event, held in Therapy Gallery Downtown: Each Soapbox has a theme, and is curated by a different guest, who chooses six people from the community to each speak for six minutes about their personal life, passion, and profession.

The women of Las Meganenas, a local troupe of storytellers, are showing their latest piece at the VSA North Fourth Arts Center: 'The Chupacabra Cantina,' a galvanizing expose on the imbalanced global structures of power that, like the vampiric Chupacabra of Mexican and Hispanic legend, suck the life out of local communities' shared heritage.

The next show in the Vortex Theater will be Terra Nova, by Ted Tally.  Opening March 25 and running until April 17, the play covers the last leg of the ill-fated 1912 Terra Nova South Pole expedition, led by Captain Robert Falcon Scott.  Co-directed by Mark Hisler (left, in below image) and Aaron Worley (right), this show is a cunning balance between a thoughtful social commentary and a visceral human trial.  Mark Hisler and I met to discuss this balance, and the history behind it.

Basque school puts on a big show: Costumes, props, sets--all, impeccably done. Their chief assets are the students, whose talent gives this show life.

Renee Peña's simple, vibrant autobiography--her childhood in Gallup, NM, her family relationships, her travels throughout 27 countries--is like a laid back aunt telling stories at a family reunion. Yet Peña's not just any old aunt--she's an actress of extraordinary skill; with craft and care, she elevates her life: You will be captivated.

Locally produced one act, 'Bedtime Stories With Popplewell,' should've seen a lot more revision before opening in the Tricklock Performance Laboratory, but the community came out to support it anyhow.

The Cell Theater's equity theater company, Fusion, is now playing 'Stupid F***ing Bird,' a new (as of 2013) tragi-comedy written by Aaron Posner that comments on its newness by embodying the skin of its ancestor, Chekov's 'The Seagull.'

At the release concert of her latest CD, 'Coming of the Night,' Albuquerque artist Meredith Wilder shows her community she's strong and ready to grow.

A prodigy in her own right but suppressed because she was a woman and forgotten in the shadow of her brother Wolfgang, Maria Anna Mozart tells her true story in a galvanizing, intimate one-woman show, 'The Other Mozart,' touring from New York and playing at the Aux Dog Theater Nob Hill until January 31.