Jul 25

Beware the Uffish Jabberwock: FORTUNE’S FAVORED

Courtesy of Paul Cantillon, LIDEC Photo

Courtesy of Paul Cantillon, LIDEC Photo. Stitch is my favorite.

Presented by Vagabond Theatre Group
By Lesley Anne Moreau
Directed by Zach Winston

July 11 – 26, 2014
The Factory Theater
Boston, MA
Vagabond on Facebook

Review by Kitty Drexel

(Boston) Fortune’s Favored almost works as theatre. It is so close to being a very well-written, sensitively acted play that it is devastating that it doesn’t achieve the success it’s capable of. The premise is quite clever, the small cast is capable and Zach Winston’s direction is sympathetic to the actors’ needs but the combination of the elements is mismatched. They are crafted pieces from three different puzzles. They don’t fit.

Eudora Redden (Annie Hochheiser) is running the Redden Arcade in Big Ugly, West Virginia for her drunk father. It’s been the family business for three generations. Her cousin Luann O’Hare (Lauren Robinson) has recently crawled home with her tail between her legs from Washington, DC after getting involved with a political scandal. They both meet Davis Milford (Conor Walsh) when he expresses interest in purchasing the business centerpiece, the fortune teller game, and in getting to know Eudora better. Things go south when business and family tangle over the potential sale. Mikey DiLoreto is the recorded voice of John Barrymore. Continue reading

Mar 10

A Very Bardy Soap Opera: BREAKING THE SHAKESPEARE CODE

Photo by Paul Cantillon, LIDEC Photo

Presented by Vagabond Theatre Group
by John Minigan
Directed by James Peter Sotis

March 6th – 15, 2014
The Factory Theatre

791 Tremont Street
Boston, MA
Vagabond Theatre Company on Facebook

Review by Danielle Rosvally

(Boston) I went into this show knowing one thing: given the subject matter and my background, I was either going to hate it or love it.  There would be no in between.

I was mostly right.  I hated some things, and loved others.  Let’s go through these items one line at a time, shall we?

Let’s start with the writing: Minigan is definitely writing for Boston.  Much like it’s hard to imagine Avenue Q played anywhere but New York, I have a hard time imaging that audiences in other parts of the country would connect to this show in the same way as Bostonians.  This is doubly odd given that the show premiered at the Orlando Shakespeare Festival and continued on to the Utah Shakespeare Festival where, presumably, it did well enough that it’s back in Boston now.  The dialogue is expertly put together, and it held me in a way that most contemporary pieces don’t (…and not just because it had a passing relationship with my man Will).  My one fault with the piece was this: I left wondering “why?”  Why did I just see this?  Why did we go on this journey?  What was beneath this tale?  I felt like the story was too profound not to have a readily discernable crux; but I just couldn’t understand what that crux was. Continue reading

Jul 15

The Theory of Everything Explained: “Supergravity and the Eleventh Dimension”

Photo Credit: Paul Cantillon, LIDEC Photo

Presented by Vagabond Theatre Group
By Heather Houston
Directed by James Peter Sotis

July 11 – 20, 2013
The Factory Theatre
Boston, MA
Vagabond Theatre Group Facebook Page

Review by Kitty Drexel

(Boston) Einstein’s Law of Thermodynamics states that “energy cannot be created or destroyed, it can only be changed from one form to another.” This quote from a beloved theoretical physicist describes the natural state of constant flux in the world around us. This quote is often bastardized by Religion* to explain the existence of God, a Super-creator from whence all the energy of life flows. God must exist, they paraphrase, because the energy to create the universe must have come from somewhere… It must have come from God! Ladies and Gentlemen, God and Science can sit at the same table but this isn’t the room they sit in. Continue reading

Nov 29

Tender to the Touch:”Burning Up the Dictionary”

Photo credit: Vagabond Theatre Group; Meyer and Hoover are about to suck face. Awesome.

presented by Vagabond Theatre Group
written by Meron Langsner
directed by James Peter Sotis
incidental music by Santiago Cardenas

November 28 – December 1, 2012
Rehearsal Hall A
Calderwood Pavilion
Boston Center for the Arts

Vagabond Theatre Group Facebook Page

(Boston) George (Tim Hoover) and Suzie-Fay (Cassandra Meyer) are best buds attempting to reconcile their friendship after ending their intense love affair. To say that “it’s complicated” would be putting it mildly. In this 2 act play by Meron Langsner, George and Suzie navigate their break-up and learn that sometimes love isn’t enough. Continue reading

Jul 21

True Believers: Attempting a Tribute to Nerd Culture

photo credit: Vagabond Theatre Group

True Believers by Thom Dunn, Vagabond Theatre Group, The Factory Theatre, 7/12/12-7/21/12, http://vagabondtheatregroup.wordpress.com/.

Reviewed by Gillian Daniels

(Boston, MA) San Diego Comic-Con is less a comic book convention than a blown up Hollywood cousin of the original concept.  I both loved and feared it when I attended last year.  It’s a beautiful, strange mess of a con, bloated with action movie advertisements, cameras from SPIKE and BBCA, and hundred dollar t-shirts.  While still a sort of haven for those obsessed with action figures and trade comics, its proximity to tinsel town has turned it into an exciting, stressful hype machine.

Vagabond Theatre Group’s production, True Believers, does an excellent job in distilling this over-saturation. Continue reading