Talk About The Hotness

When you have a theatre company you want reviews like the on that 1001 got in the Post on Saturday. You want a review that is fair minded, supportive and good.

Peter Marks in the Washington Post had this to say about our show:

Stories, stories and more stories: They wrap themselves around one another like the strands of a double helix in "1001," Jason Grote's urbane, contemporary riff on the tales of the Arabian nights, staged with a pleasing, all-hands-on-deck gusto by Rorschach Theatre.

As it did last summer with Grote's "This Storm Is What We Call Progress," the troupe -- formerly ensconced in a church in Columbia Heights -- is starting a season at Georgetown University's Davis Performing Arts Center with a play by this restlessly cerebral dramatist.

Read the whole review HERE, but long story short, this is a great review for a great show. Don't miss out my lovelies, this is another Rorschach show not to be missed!

Jane, Sweet Jane!

Jane has once again Rorschach some love in her column today.

Read her article about our Exile in her back stage column. She calls it Rorschach's Alarming Scene, we call it press. She talks to Randy, Jenny, Colin, Jason Grote, Rahaleh and me all about what it means to be doing a season in the cold hard world of Georgetown. Please note irony here.

Read all about it HERE.

Even Peter Marks Says He's Hooked

...I sort of got hooked. Just trying to keep up with what's going on makes the game diverting.

Read the rest of the review HERE from the Post.

Remember Episode 2 runs all this weekend and a chance to see Episode 1 again this Saturday at 7pm.

Sorry I am in a bit of a rush today, but to all of you who are waiting for the last weekend of Dream Sailors, maybe should reconsider. We are starting to sell out for the marathon run.

We Own the Kids Page of the Post Today

Pick up a copy of The Washington Post today and go to the Style Section. Don't open the section just turn  it over and go to what is usually the Kids Page. Go below the fold and read some Rorschach goodness. 

First you can read all about Dream Sailors, which just happens to be opening tomorrow night. Celia Wren talks to Randy, Jenny and Colin Hovde about the great experiment we have going on down in the Theater Lab at Georgetown. She also does a pretty nice job of giving the history of Episodic Theater going back to Greece and Shakespeare (think about any Shakespeare play with the name Henry in it and you'll see where she is going with that.) Read for your self though in the article, Pursuing the 'Dream' That Lingers Longer Than One Night.

Then there is a stellar review for the folks slogging it out upstairs doing The Skin of Our Teeth. Nelson Pressley:

They've blown the dust off this one. As Nassri's gang renders it, Wilder's drama feels like the granddaddy of the edgy material Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company has bee doing for years, finding loopy ways to goof off and then land hard.

Love is given to the cast, designers and director. HERE is the rest of the review for you to read.

Congratulations to everyone on both shows. Keep on plugging.

Peter Likes It

My friends we got our first review and it is a darling. Peter Marks seems to like what he saw on Sunday night in the Devine Theatre at Georgetown U.

If its first production in exile, a world premiere of Jason Grote's "This Storm Is What We Call Progress," is any indication, then homelessness may not be such a trying condition. Grote's play is both mind-blowing and a bit mind-numbing, but as modeling clay for a troupe that likes to get its mitts on provocative, idea-crammed and still-evolving theater, it's primo material.

Yes he has a couple issues, but who doesn't.

Read the rest of the review HERE.

Congratulations everyone on a great review for an exciting new show.

She Once Sold Me the Brooklyn Bridge

So Rahaleh Nassri has directed a show for Studio's 2nd Stage. Rahaleh will be the director of Rorschach's Skin of Our Teeth in the very near future. The Washington Post ran a profile on Rahaleh on Friday and to the left is the picture that ran with the interview, An Unflinching Look at Gangs.

I give the Post reporter credit for running a story about Rahaleh and including the choice details of her various schemes:

She speaks four languages, plays out ornate hoaxes in public -- reading fortunes in espresso grounds in a Swiss cafe, impersonating a would-be spy being recruited in Kramerbooks & Afterwords Cafe -- and has performed with the Washington Shakespeare Company. She can also speak "diplomatically," having earned a degree in international affairs from George Washington University and served as press officer at the French Embassy.

I wish they had asked her about her life as a Russian Madam or the time we tried to convince everyone at Tryst that the bar was running a contest to give away a schooner. Read all about Rahaleh and her other hijinks and art.

I Wonder if They Were at the Same Theater

How do two reviewers have such opposite reactions to a play?

I start you out with a critic's love letter to Kit Marlowe from Tim Treanor over at DC Theatre Scene. Tim encourages folks to stop reading his review and rush out and get their tickets right away. He goes on to say:

Kit Marlowe flies, with scenes intercutting each other with such facility that they conjure up images of a circus act, with high-wire acrobats.

And what does he say of our cast and in particular our own Kit? Well he has praise indeed:

Segaller is fabulous in the title role: his Marlowe is a man who is constantly giving the whole world a sloppy wet kiss. He may affect cynicism, and he may be cruel, but Segaller’s Marlowe is at all times a huge engine of life, joy and laughter, and there is not a moment in which it seems less than authentic. Indeed, his performance makes me remember the young Tim Curry, playing Mozart in Amadeus thirty years ago. It is that good.

The rest of the cast measures up to this incredible work.

Follow this link to read it all.

But now on to someone who has less praise to show our show, and that would be Nelson Pressley over at The Washington Post.

Nelson just doesn't think that we soar as high as the script does. He does however find some praise for the script and our production:

Grimm appropriates Marlowe's trademark power as often as possible, especially as the story turns dark.

. . . it played several years ago in a campy, over-directed production that the playwright was moved to shut down. At least the play looks more substantial this time -- and for the ravenous Marlowe fan, it will serve as a decent appetizer for the meal to come.

Read what else the Post had to say here at this link.

Fourth of July Prep and Post Review

There was worse news in the Post today then Peter Marks' review of birds. Beverly Sills passed away. Terrorist cells are now using doctors and medical students in attempts to take lives instead of save them. And our "leader" decided to bring the nation even lower by commuting the sentence of one of his cronies.

Here is the nice thing Peter said:

The production's hero is its set designer, Jacob S. Muehlhausen, who has ingeniously loaded into the church sanctuary an abstracted Manhattan streetscape of newsprint and what look like Xerox images of office buildings. The evening's cleverest surprise is the manner in which Muehlhausen shifts the action to James and Jorie's inner sanctum.

4th of July Safety Guide

So not to change the topic but here are some quick reminders for 4th of July Safety:

1. Fireworks are fun, but dangerous. Do not store them in the trunk of your car or near open flames. And for God's sake get that thing out of your mouth.

2. Know when to say when. And I don't just mean if you are driving. If you find yourself at a party talking about how hot it is, over and over again you have had too much. And I can promise you someone will eventually hit you.

3. Sun screen. Lots and lots of sun screen. And a hat. Maybe a mosquito net and some sort of goggles.

4. Avoid the temptation to make jokes about hot dogs. Yes we all know what they are shaped like, you don't have to remind anyone and the chortle to yourself.

Follow these 4 easy rules and you should be able to avoid trips to the emergency room this year.

Review: The Post

Ladies and gentlemen, we have our first review and it is a good'un. Nelson Pressley. Sweet, sweet Nelson Pressley at The Washington Post has given References . . . a raaaaaaave!

Every one of the actors and designers and the director each gets a shout out. That makes me so happy I can't even begin to tell you. I will take a stab at it though.

This is what you want. I think this show is solid from top to bottom, and to have that recognized any where outside of my own head, is comforting like in a grilled cheese and tomato soup on the coldest day in April kind of way.

Read the whole thing here, but here are some choice bits:

. . . "References to Salvador Dali Make Me Hot," the whimsical yet absorbing romantic drama getting a wise, passionate production by Rorschach Theatre.

Rivera's writing becomes incisively realistic once the unexpectedly vivid Benito arrives; although he's framed in fantasy and often cloaked in rapturous language, the character shapes up as an unusually compelling stage portrait of a soldier.

It's similar to Terrence McNally's "Frankie and Johnny in the Claire de Lune" (which plumbs a first encounter) recently at Arena Stage, only Rivera's play is more persuasively poetic and more plausible, more honest.

And three more in case you want to hear about the design and directing:

Director Shirley Serotsky has sure instincts with Rivera's shifting style, and her lead actors circle each other with devastating familiarity, trading barbs with supple romantic insinuation or weary brittleness as needed.

(The witty costumes are by Pei Lee.)

Robbie Hayes's scenic design delivers cracked desert earth below and shattered sky above. And Andrew F. Griffin's lights and Matthew Nielson's sound design provide romantic accompaniment that is never hokey, even when a storm breaks as the show crests to a climax.

References to Salvador Dali Make Me Hot continues this weekend and runs until May 13th. Get your tickets now by calling 1-800-494-TIXS or visit BoxOfficeTickets.com.

You guys rock!

You. You. I know you!

Click on the picture to see the image larger or follow this link to read the review.

Post Haste

"When a vengeful fictional character steps out of the pages of Shakespeare and into modern Manhattan threatening death and destruction, who in the world can save the day? A dramaturg." - Nelson Pressley in The Washington Post

Sort of has a "who you gonna call?" vibe to it. We haven't had this quick a turn around on a review in the Post like ever. And what a good review. Here is the link to read all of the goodness about Rough Magic. But please pick up the print edition so you can see Grady's head in all of its four color glory in the Style Section.

The show opened wonderfully on Saturday night. Lots of people kept coming up to me at the after party and saying what a blast they had. And I think that without a doubt this show is a blast. Balls out battles between good and evil, a sexy, sexy cast, and amazing design all add up to an evening of Rorschach. I think most of you know what I mean when I say Rorschach, the rest of you will just have to come out and find out for yourselves.

More of these reviews will be coming in, but it is nice to get the one that everyone reads under our belts and know that we got some love out there for us already.

The show is back this Thursday night at 8pm. And just a reminder to you love birds out there, who are in need of a date for your sweetie, we have a Valentine's Day show. What could be more romantic on a V-Day than a night out with your honey at the theater? And with what you save on the tickets, you can spend it on dinner or dessert toppings.

Just as a note of warning, we have already had to turn folks away at the door for this show. Our last PWYC Preview, was sold out and we had to turn away about 20 people. As many of you know from Master and Margarita and The Beard of Avon, when a Rorschach show sells out in previews, you won't be able to stroll-up and see if we have any seats left, so book your tickets now.

Reviews Start Coming In

And so it begins. There is an attitude among some in the business we call show, not to read the reviews. That it will make you doubt everything you do and if you believe the good ones then you will have to believe the bad ones as well. Over the years all of us at Rorschach have received our share of praise along with not-praise. It is when we take our biggest risks that we are sometimes lauded the loudest and also set ourselves up for the biggest disappointments.

All of that is a lead in to the fact that the reviews for Monster have begun to come in. There will be more in the coming days.

Washington Theatre Review offers a review of both adaptations in town, both ours and the two person affair at Roundhouse Silver Spring, featuring Rorschach Alum, Jesse Terrill. Here is some of the sweetness pouring our way from Ms. Debbie Jackson:

The entire production cackles with such moments of creativity, and Baker’s bloody fingerprints are on every scene. He keeps a laser-like focus on character-development, amazing use of space, even eerie lighting cues, all while commandeering a rollicking 90-minute show.

The review everyone waits for is the Post review and it came out today and while it heaps praise on many it also avoids heaping praise on others. Here are some of the choice bits that Mr. Marks had to share:

The invigorating source of disturbance is the big guy who's stitched together from exhumed arms, ears and kidneys. As played by the young, expressive actor Robert Rector, this creature out of our collective anxieties emits the requisite scent of the grave -- what you might call eau de crypt.

If I could just add to Peter Marks enthusiasm, Bobby Rector gives a powerhouse performance as the Monster of the title. The very real danger he embodies is a site to behold. The cast as a whole provides an evening of theatre that will make you shiver, but everyone knows why you really go to see a scary movie or play, it is to see what is hiding under the covers. And this Monster will be one you looking under the bed for when you get home.