Review: WHITE RABBIT RED RABBIT Shows Intelligence and Cleverness at The Garden Theatre

"No one puts the inventor of the gun on trial..."

When one thinks of a production, usually you expect a script, a director, creative team, and of course-the actors. With that, the actors have a bevy of time in order to prepare to give their performance.

However, the newly formed The Garden Theatre has chosen to do the exact opposite in a smart, clever, and brilliant production of Nassim Soleimanpour's WHITE RABBIT RED RABBIT.

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The concept of Soleimanpour's piece is both simple and unconventional: a different actor every performance is provided with a script which they have not read before and must perform verbatim. The result? A mesh of improv, audience interaction and participation, and clever thought that guarantees audience members a very different experience after every viewing. Soleimanpour is an Iranian playwright who is unfortunately not able to travel due to his lack of passport. In Iran at the time of writing, males must serve two years in the military to be able to travel internationally. A seat is always reserved for him at every performance in the hopes that one day he will be able to occupy it.

The play and the production calls for a strictly no spoiler zone. Both audience and actors must go into it blind to fully enjoy the production. Trust me, it's worth it!

However, here are some non-spoiler comments about the production.

First, if you are asked to be onstage, do it with gusto. The actors won't bite, I promise. Second, be sure to cheer for the lone actor. It is immensely difficult to put on a production you have never so much as read before, and your energy as an audience member matters! At the opening night performance that I attended, the room was filled with the brilliant chaotic energy that actor, Bryan Kaplun brings.

Soleimanpour's words are an inventive allegory for the world we live in. This writer promises that those 75 minutes of frivolity will leave you with thoughts that won't settle for days.

As mentioned, each performance of WHITE RABBIT RED RABBIT is performed by an entirely different actor, who has never seen the script. With a stunning cast of Houston actors to play the performer on stage, you have every reason to catch this intelligent piece of theatre not just once, but again and again. The following performers and their performance times are below.

Bryan Kaplun, Friday, January 21, 2022 at 8:00pm

Daniel Edwards on Saturday, January 22, 2022 at 2pm

Scott Lupton on Saturday, January 22, 2022 at 8pm

Whitney Zangarine on Sunday, January 23, 2022 at 2pm

Christine Weems on Sunday, January 23, 2022 at 7:30pm

David Allen III on Thursday, January 27, 2022 at 7:30pm

Seth Cunningham on Friday, January 28, 2022 at 8pm

Chaney Moore on Saturday, January 29, 2022 at 2pm

Barbra Q. Chyppes on Saturday, January 29, 2022 at 8pm

Sloane Teagle on Sunday, January 30, 2022 at 2pm

WHITE RABBIT RED RABBIT plays from January 21, 2022 until January 30, 2022 at Midtown Arts and Theater Center Houston (MATCH). The production has performances, Thursday through Sunday with Thursday and Sunday night performances at 7:30, Saturday and Sunday matiness at 2pm, and Friday and Saturday night performance at 8pm. Masks are a requirement the entire time within the performance space. Tickets can be bought at https://matchouston.org/events/2022/white-rabbit-red-rabbit or at the MATCH Box Office on 3400 Main Street, Houston, TX 77002.

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