See "Down the Drain" before it closes!

It is for gems like these that some of us become addicted to Theater. Like gambling addicts, we continue to attend plays because we never know when there will be another ‘pay-off’ of a fantastic script in combination with great actors and direction. I am thrilled to report that “Down the Drain,” a new play written and directed by Austin’s own A. John Boulanger, is one of those great payoffs. He admits that he wrote this script especially for the featured performers, Martin Burke and Meredith McCall, who have done countless plays together (including Boulanger’s last new piece, “House of Several Stories”). The writer describes this new piece as a “bleak” comedy and I couldn’t find a better description. The first act is so funny, I laughed so hard that I was in tears. Martin Burke pulled out all the stops and rode the emotions of his character like some kind of extreme roller coaster. The second act felt darker and more mysterious, and the audience was unsure whether Burke’s character was rooted in reality or sinking quickly into psychotic paranoia. The ending surprised me, but perhaps you will figure it out faster than I did. Meredith did a great job with her role, and her haunting melodies set the tone nicely at the beginning of the piece. Breanna Stogner also did a fantastic job playing a variety of strong characters with a variety of accents. The set featured a dramatic yet very tasteful bathroom with the most impressive mirrors I have ever seen.
Great job everyone, and the program reports that Boulanger is working on three new scripts slated to premiere in 2012. We in Austin can’t wait!
The play runs through August 28th at Hyde Park Theater. More information here:
http://www.nowplayingaustin.com/event/detail/441348793/Down_the_Drain

"A Night of Horror" Riveting and Quite Creepy

Although we are quite familiar with Horror Movies, there is nothing quite like watching a Horror Play. When done well, the audience is riveted and leaves their comfortable, predictable world to enter uncertain, foreign lands. In a small theater, the audience is not quite sure that we ourselves are safe and immune from the craziness and creepiness that the live actors bring to life onstage. In this vein, Chaotic Theater produced great renditions of two plays by David Steele at the Austin Playhouse. In both plays, the actors did a fantastic job of bringing their characters to life. Especially in the first play, the family members were very believably creepy. Instead of allowing us to distance ourselves and discount them all as crazy, the oldest daughter in the first play, and reporter in the second play seem most normal and rational. Because of them, we are intrigued and can connect to their worlds, as we follow them down the slippery slopes of the horrific stories that unfold.
For more information, see http://www.nowplayingaustin.com/event/detail/441083393/A_Night_of_Horror