Austin Statesman feature on Fixing King John, Kirk Lynn's Adapation for the Rude Mechs, November 7 - 24, 2013

For the record: the Austin Statesman publishes a feature on the Rude Mech's Fixing King John by Kirk Lynn (November 7 - 24 at the Off Center, 2211-A Hidalgo Street), available only behind its subscriber pay wall. One-day on-line access is 99 cents.

Kirk Lynn (via Austin Statesman)

Van Ryzin: Fix Shakespeare? Kirk Lynn and the Rude Mechanicals give it a try

By Jeanne Claire van Ryzin American-Statesman Staff November 2, 2013

William Shakespeare wrote 37 plays.

Or 39 if you’re the Folger Shakespeare Library, which includes one play that scholars maintain was lost to history. Then again, some scholars claim there are two lost Shakespeare plays. (Counting Shakespeare’s plays is a veritable academic cottage industry and the source of much intellectual tussle.)

This story continues on our new premium website for subscribers, MyStatesman.com. 

Continue reading/get access here »

Petra's Pecado by Rupert Reyes Is Published, October, 2013

Published October 24, 2013 in the Cultura in Austin section:

by Nancy Flores

It’s been nearly 20 years since the hit comedy play “Petra’s Pecado” first captured the hearts and minds of Austinites. Since then, playwright and Teatro Vivo co-founder Rupert Reyes’ timeless story has taken on a life of its own with productions in several U.S. cities, two sequels and now its own book.

Often described as the Chicano “Greater Tuna,” the play tells the story of a Latina grandmother'and tortilla factory owner who catches a glimpse of an X-rated program while channel surfing and runs to her priest to confess. Her penance? To direct the church’s annual play.

Reyes shared decades worth of “Petra” memories as we flipped through a thick binder full of archival photographs, posters and newspaper clippings that document the bilingual play’s success. From Minneapolis performances to Reyes’ daughter joining the cast, each page tells a story. When Reyes first played the part of Petra’s husband, he had to make himself look plder; nowadays, not so much, he jokes. It’s clear that after about 20 years, Petra belongs to everyone.

Rupert Reyes (photo: Teatro Vivo)

Reyes has always been a storyteller, but he felt as if he was chosen to tell this particular story. Writing the play, he says, felt more like observing a family having a conversation. He imagined jotting down everything he could in the background.

“Petra’s Pecado” has been bridging cultural gaps one audience at a time, and the recent book ensures that a new generation will be influenced by the heartwarming tale. Part of the proceeds from book sales help fund an effort to send books to every high school in Austin.

“There are many plays in history that have been lost,” Reyes says. “‘Petra’s Pecado’ won’t become of them.”

Listen to excerpts from the play during a reception and book-signing from 6:30-8:30 p.m. Nov. 14 at the Emma S. Barrientos Mexican American Cultural Center.

And for fans who can’t get enough of Petra, Reyes plans to premiere another sequel soon called “Petra’s Pastorela.”

Profile: Ken Webster and His House of Letters, Austin Statesman, July 6, 2013

Ken Webster and his house of letters

A story about theater, freedom, language … and the beauty of smallness

By Brad Buchholz, American-Statesman Staff

Ken Webster (photo: Jay Janner, Austin Statesman)

Ken Webster spends most of his days in a Hyde Park playhouse — theater space, daydream space, a creative hideaway, where he immerses himself in the beauty of language, the genius of playwright Harold Pinter, an ocean of baseball trivia, the art of a well-placed comma. It is a serious place. It is a silly place. And for Webster: It is a place of independence.


“This is my second home,” says Webster, the 55-year-old executive director of Austin’s literary-minded Hyde Park Theatre and one of the most well-known actors and directors in the city. “It’s not just a place I work; it’s a place where I hang out, where I see friends. I met my wife (the actress and author Katherine Catmull) here. It’s been a big part of my life for 30 years.”

Click to read more at AustinLiveTheatre.com

Click to go to this article at www.mystatesman.com

Austin Print Journalists List Arts Favorites in 2012-2013 'Critics' Table' Nominations

Statesman and Chronicle arts writers announce their favorites for 2012-2013 with the annual 'Critics'Table' awards nominations:

The 2012-2013 Austin Critics' Table Awards nominations for theatre and design
(click to go to www.austin360.com for full list, including music and dance)
 

THEATER
Production, Drama
All My Sons, Palindrome Theatre
Colossal, UT/David Mark Cohen New Works Festival
The Edge of Peace, UT Department of Theatre & Dance
Neighborhood 3: Requisition of Doom, Poison Apple Initiative/Vestige Group
The Poison Squad, The Duplicates
Richard III, Texas State University Department of Theatre and Dance
Rose Rage, The Hidden Room Theatre


Production, Comedy
Accidental Death of an Anarchist, Palindrome Theatre
boom!, Capital T Theatre
Dividing the Estate, Zach Theatre
The Importance of Being Earnest, Mary Moody Northen Theatre
Slip River, UT/David Mark Cohen New Works Festival
Under Construction, Mary Moody Northen Theatre


Production, Musical
Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson, Doctuh Mistuh Productions
Legally Blonde the Musical, Summer Stock Austin
Ordinary Peephole: The Songs of Dick Price, The Dick Price Fan Club
Ragtime, Zach Theatre
The Sound of Music, Zilker Theatre Productions
Urinetown: The Musical, Texas State University Department of Theatre and Dance


Theatrical Event
Austin Is a Place (You Are Here), Theatre En Bloc
The Girl With Time in Her Eyes, The Hidden Room Theatre
Hot Nights series, The Exchange Artists
Lord Wensleydale’s Last High Tea, Parallelogramophonograph
The Man Who Planted Trees, The Exchange Artists
Now Now Oh Now, Rude Mechanicals


Direction
Beth Burns, Rose Rage/Invisible, Inc.
Connor Hopkins, Toil and Trouble
David Long, Under Construction
Chuck Ney, Richard III
Austin Sheffield, All My Sons
Rachel Wiese, The Man Who Planted Trees


Acting in a Leading Role
Jill Blackwood, Xanadu/Ragtime/Goodnight Moon
Barbara Chisholm, The Importance of Being Earnest
Brock England, Rose Rage
Noel Gaulin, Accidental Death of an Anarchist/The Bear/Vodka, Fucking, and Television
Thomas Graves, Agnes and Alfred
Harvey Guion, All My Sons
Joey Hood, “I Am the Machine Gunner”
Hannah Kenah, Agnes and Alfred
Eugene Lee, Richard III
Mykal Monroe, Intimate Apparel
Cassadie Peterson, Neighborhood 3: Requisition of Doom
Matt Radford, Rose Rage
Patty Rowell, Annie Get Your Gun
Kyle Scatliffe, Ragtime
Carrie Stephens, Betrayal


Acting in a Supporting Role
Joey Banks, Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson
Nathan Brockett, All My Sons
Beth Broderick, Just Outside Redemption Fran Dorn, The Edge of Peace
Babs George, Mad Beat Hip & Gone
Ryan Hamilton, Just Outside Redemption
Jude Hickey, Vodka, Fucking, and Television
Robert Matney, Rose Rage
Nadine Mozon, Richard III
Laurence Pears, Rose Rage/Invisible, Inc.
Sydney Roberts, Urinetown: The Musical
Cara Spradley, The Scarlet Letter
Marijane Vandivier, Dividing the Estate


Ensemble Performance
The Importance of Being Earnest, Mary Moody Northen Theatre
Ordinary Peephole: The Songs of Dick Price, The Dick Price Fan Club
The Poison Squad, The Duplicates
Rose Rage, The Hidden Room
Under Construction, Mary Moody Northen Theatre
The Women of Juarez, UT/David Mark Cohen New Works Festival


Music Direction
Jordon Cunningham, Legally Blonde: The Musical
Jennifer Davis & Howard Burkitt, Rose Rage
Allen Robertson, Xanadu/Ragtime/Goodnight Moon
Lyova Rosanoff, Ordinary Peephole: The Songs of Dick Price
John Vander Gheynst and Dustin Struhall, The Sound of Music


Movement
Cassie Abate, Urinetown: The Musical
Andrea Beckham and Jeff Simon, Colossal
Nick Demos, Ragtime/White Christmas
Danny Herman & Rocker Verastique, Under Construction
Jennifer Young Mahlstedt, Goodnight Moon
Courtney Wissinger, The Sound of Music


David Mark Cohen New Play Award
Adam Sultan, Steve Moore and Zeb L. West
Colossal, Andrew Hinderaker
The Edge of Peace, Suzan Zeder
Just Outside Redemption, Dennis Bailey
Now Now Oh Now, Kirk Lynn
The Poison Squad, The Duplicates
Slip River, Abe Koogler, Katie Bender, and Gabrielle Reisman
The Women of Juarez, Isaac Gomez and Bianca Sulaica


Touring Show, Theatre
Butt Kapinski: We Are the Dark, Deanna Fleysher/The Institution Theatre
Cue China (Elsewhere, Offshore), Ant Hampton/Fusebox Festival Farfalle, Compagnia TPO/Scottish Rite Theatre
Heather Woodbury’s As the Globe Warms, Heather Woodbury/Vortex Repertory Company
Brian Stokes Mitchell, Zach Theatre
Watch Me Fall, Action Hero/Fusebox Festival
West Side Terri, Jay Fraley & Rude Guerilla Productions

DESIGN
 
Scenic Design
William Anderson, The Cataract
The Duplicates, The Poison Squad
Ia Ensterä, The 12th Labor/spacestation 1985/Bus Stop
Thomas Graves, Michelle Marchesseault, Leilah Stewart, et al. (?) Now Now Oh Now
Michelle Ney, Richard III
Cliff Simon, Dividing the Estate/33 Variations


Costume Design
Kaitlyn Aylward, The Cataract
Emily Cawood, “Wavemakers”
T’Cie Mancuso, Under Construction/The Importance of Being Earnest
Michelle Ney, Richard III
Susan Branch Towne, The Sound of Music/Xanadu/Ragtime
Chin-Hua Yeh, Intimate Apparel


Lighting Design
Jason Amato, Heaven-Earth-One/Ragtime/Pride and Prejudice/The Elementals: Earth
The Duplicates, The Poison Squad
Natalie George, spacestation 1985
Michelle Hebeck, Dividing the Estate/Xanadu/Mad Beat Hip & Gone
Stephen Pruitt, Solo Symphony
Theatre En Bloc, Austin Is a Place (You Are Here)


Sound Design
Craig Brock, Ragtime
The Duplicates, The Poison Squad
Robert Fisher, Now Now Oh Now
William Meadows, Heaven-Earth-One Buzz Moran, All My Sons/Under Construction/spacestation 1985
Miles Polaski, The Cataract


Video Design
Lowell Bartholomee, Vodka, Fucking, and Television
João Beira, Marta Ferraz, and Yago De Quay, “3D [Embodied]”
Colin Lowry, The Geometry of Proximity
Christopher Sousa-Wynn, Richard III
Lee Webster, “I Am the Machine Gunner”

Article/Interview: Steven Dietz by Jeanne Claire van Ryzin, Austin Statesman, March 1

A profile and interview of Steven Dietz, the prolific playwright based at UT since 2006 and author of Shooting Star, currently running at the Zach, by the Statesman's Jeanne Claire van Ryzin:

STEVEN DIETZ: PLAYWRIGHT AT WORK
Being prolific yields its own kind of fame
Playwright's hard work finds its way onto stages in Austin.

By Jeanne Claire van Ryzin
AMERICAN-STATESMAN ARTS WRITER
Sunday, March 01, 2009

Steven Dietz doesn't mind that when you Google his name, a phrase like "the most famous playwright you've never heard of" might pop up.

"I love that," says the 50-year-old writer, whose latest, "Shooting Star," a charming bittersweet comedy of roads not taken in life, is getting its premiere at Zach Theatre.

Click for full text of profile of Steven Dietz