BWW Review: THE QUARRY is Surreal, Charming and Deeply Touching
by Frank Benge
- Oct 5, 2015
THE QUARRY, a new play by Greg Pierce, now in the work's second staging at Hyde Park Theatre, uses an unusual and surrealistic narrative style for what is basically a detective story to an effectively provocative effect. A series of puzzling events in the marble quarry in an unnamed town in Vermont cause Jean (Katherine Catmull), an antisocial widow, to start her own investigation. As the play begins, Jean talks about how she enjoys staring into the quarry beside her house, how the sound of the machines soothes her, and how much she misses her husband, Sammy (Ken Webster). Jean has packed up her house because she was planning to 'off herself.' Her reason for this is much more pragmatic than one would expect. Her reason to end her life is because she believes that every life has a "main story" and hers is complete. However, she's decided to stick around because of the mystery in the quarry...the discovery of three marble steps leading to nowhere. Jean's opening monologue only hints at what is to come. We learn the story in fragments as the other characters speak.
BWW Reviews: Everything in Focus at TIME STANDS STILL
by Jeff Davis
- Oct 10, 2014
It's clear even before Time Stands Still begins that the show has been carefully designed to make us ponder the effects of war. Before the actors take the stage, clips of the war-torn Middle East are projected on the stage, including images of children being indoctrinated into ISIS.
It's impossible for these images to not have an effect on the viewer, and the same can be said for the play itself. The Tony-nominated drama, now playing at Austin Playhouse, makes an unforgettable impact.
