If You See Only One Play . . .

Sorry, I missed you all on Friday. I got my self a touch of the flu that is going around and I was in not in a condition that allowed me to sit upright for long. What that meant was that a good number of you showed up looking for the latest reviews for Rough Magic and there was nothing to see. Well let us fix that right now.

This is the quote from Trey Graham at The City Paper:

If you see only one play during the six-month-long Shakespeare in Washington festival, see Rough Magic.

Impressive, don't you think? Just in case someone accuses us of using it out of context though here is the rest of the quote:

Now, the Rorschach Theatre troops are gonna slap that sentence into a Web ad within the next five minutes, never mind that the actual production they’ve staged had more than a few bumpy spots on opening weekend. But more marketing power to ’em: Even a rough take on Rough Magic turns out to be kinda fun, if only because the play itself proves an inspired choice for an impoverished but balls-to-the-wall theater company taking part in a big, citywide celebration of all things Shakespeare.

Over all a very fair review. And thank you Trey for giving us credit for choice of material for the Festival. I think the part of the quote people will probably see the most of though will be "balls-to-the-wall theater company." I always thought we were worthy of a new accolade besides shoe-string and I think that might just be my new favorite.

Here is the rest of the review, which has a great deal of love for a number of the cast. Some of you get less love and the only thing I can say is, read enough press and they will say everything about you eventually. Trey adds further analysis of all our reviews and more of his own opinions over at Theaterboy.

Missy Frederick at the DCist offered her take on Friday and she also thinks that we have made a great Festival choice:

As a festival entry, this one's a smart pick - it's not your typical modernist revision or classic choice. Rough Magic toys with Shakespearean characters with afffection and without undue reverence.

She has some things that she liked more than others of course, but she still seems to have some superlatives to throw around to the cast including, a show stealing nomination for a certain life-guard/child warrior. Here is the rest of the review from DCist.

Hope that holds you all for a little while. I have two more reviews to send your way tomorrow and then we start some catch-up on some interviews with our designers that field reporter Gwen Grastorf put together for us. Bye, bye and stay healthy!