CLICK HERE FOR RECENT REVIEWS IN CHRONOLOGICAL ORDER CLICK ON PLAY FOR AUDIENCE REVIEWS FOR THAT PLAY
- 0 to 6 in 60
69 Moments of Life
Actor, You're Killing Me
Air Tight Security
Almost True Adventures ...
Amazing Improvised Musical
Animal Farm
Ballerina on a Horse
Beautiful Man
Berserker
Caffe di Amore or ...
Check the Box
Clearing Hedges
Corned Beef
Countless
Crime & Variations
Death Blow II: ...
Demon Pope
Diagnosis: Jew Pain ...
Disco Prophecies
Ethan's Gift
Far From Springer
Fixed Boundry
Forty Love
Got Water
I Can't Believe They're Not Oriental!
Idiot Machine: ...
In Cahoots
John Muir: Watch, Pray, Fight
Late Night Talk Show
Ludlow and Canal
Magic at the Fringe
Man 1, Bank 0
Marx in Soho
Mixed Signal
Mother: A Modern Buddhist ...
Naked Inqisition
nEO - surrealists present: ...
Neon's Crazy Blue
Nharcolepsy
Original Action Pack
Park - N - Ride
Passages
Sandwich
Scabaret!
Searching for God in Kerala
Seventh Game of the World Series
Shadow Kissers
Strobe Vision
This World is Not My Home
Total Improvisation - ...
Train Stories
Tripping on the Equator ...
Twinspeak
Play: Check the Box
Reviewer: Connie Galambos
Reviewer Email:
Rating: 4 Stars
Witty and moving! The actors developed their characters amazing well considering
the shortness of the separate plays...the writers gave them intriguing characters
with which to work.
Play: Check the Box
Reviewer: Charles Belov
Reviewer Email:
Rating: 4 Stars
I don't really have much to add. These are worth seeing and I agree The
Good Daughter is a standout and heartwrenching.
Play: Check The Box
Reviewer: Jerry Curtiss
Reviewer Email: JCurtiss@aol.com
Rating: 5 Stars
This production reminded me of an off-Broadway show I saw years ago in New
York. It was fabulous and an unexpected pleasure. The actors were very,
very good and I enjoyed each of the five vignettes, in particular, The Good
Daughter. The entire audience gasped at the end, it was such a surprise.
A wonderful job by all involved.
Play: Check the Box
Reviewer: goreski
Reviewer Email:
Rating: 4 Stars
this is a very nice set of short one-acts... well worth gong to see. Not
all of the pieces are all that strong, but I think you'll be rewarded if
you see this... I found it fun, and the acting is basically good, and some
of the actors are really very good here. Highly recomended. All the pieces
are well written, well performed.
Play: Check the Box: Merging Voices
Reviewer: A friend of the playwrights
Reviewer Email:
Rating: 4 Stars
I am friends with several of the playwrights who collaborated on this piece.
With full disclosure thus accomplished, I recommend this play with genuine
admiration.
The five short plays within the hour offer a stimulating theatergoing experience. The performances and direction sparkle
Play: Check the Box
Reviewer: Pitter Patter
Reviewer Email:
Rating: 5 Stars
5 entertaining and modern 1 acts with EXCELLENT ACTING in all. A thoroughly
entertaining hour of commentary and reflection on everyday experiences viewed
from the outside in.
Play: Check the Box
Reviewer: Donna Payne
Reviewer Email:
Rating: 5 Stars
I was amazed how interested I became in 10 minutes. I have to say "The
Good Daughter" was my favorite. I was impressed how much was said about
aging and the emotions of those who support the aging without being preachy
and WITH a clever twist. It was so great to see new plays and new outlooks.
The acting was great and the price was so right.
Play: Check the Box Merging Voices
Reviewer: Mary Rodriquez
Reviewer Email:
This was awesome! I went with a friend who knows one of the actors. I really
just wanted to have an espresso and call it a night, but I got dragged along.
I was surprised when Check the Box was really good!
They were all great, but my favorite was The Good Daughter by Robin Bradford. It was amazing. My only suggestion is that it could be longer. Maybe this could be made into a full-on play? It seems like it's got a lot of potential.
I could really identify with Pam Gutman's play about the Eurasian, because I come from a mixed family and I've run into some of the same issues she did growing up.
The actors all played various parts and it added to the fun to see them go from one play to the next. They were versatile and believable in all the roles. In short, I can recommend Check The Box to anyone who wants a great experience at the Fringe. Or at the theater, period.
Play: Check The Box: Merging Voices
Reviewer: WR Hamilton
Reviewer Email: downwindwilly@aol.com
Rating: 5 Stars
This play far exceeded my expectations. It took me by surprise, from the
direction, which successfully linked five separate pieces -- to the actors,
who were just superb.
Robin Bradford's "The Good Daughter," is a standout in this group of five excellent mini-plays. It's a roller coaster ride which had me up and down several times within a few moments. Quite unexpected and very well written. The actors were terrific.
"Harley and Handel," by Maureen Bogues, was very entertaining and wonderfully acted. I enjoyed Edna Hall's "Twinship Kinship," as well as the work of Pamela Gutman and Mae Meidav. In all, this is a MUST SEE for all Fringe goers. Just great! THANK YOU.
Play: Check the Box: Merging Voices
Reviewer: Pat Craig, Contra Costa Times
Reviewer Email:
Rating: None
Excerpt from 9/8/03 Contra Costa Times:
"...CHECK THE BOX: MERGING VOICES. ...wonderfully entertaining ...
If you enjoy sharp writing and plays that demand rapt attention and concentration,
don't miss "Check the Box: Merging Voices," a set of short pieces
presented by ... Brookside Repertory Theatre. ... the group seems to be
concentrating on performing original sketches and plays that take a different
angle on contemporary life -- from love among the nerds to dealing with
elderly parents to growing up Eurasian in a blond family or gay with a mom
in denial.
These brief dramedies are wonderfully well-written ...
Brookside's opener: "Speak Softly and Carry a Big Computer," by
Mae Ziglin Meidav, is a sly comedy about a mixer at a convention of engineers,
and places notions of love, romance and sex in a technical context, with
a language of initials and slang only a systems pro could love. And, while
you may not undestand a word these people are saying, you will quickly see
that they are not talking about making connections with a highspeed modem.
... "The Good Daughter" by Robin Bradford, was a well-performed
meeting between a young woman and an elderly woman in a nursing home. The
sketch is not only nicely written by offers a lesson in the fact seeing
is not always believeing ... (Pat Craig, Theater critis, Contra Costa Times)
Play: Check the Box - Merging Voices
Reviewer: Ray Hodgins
Reviewer Email:
Rating: 3 Stars
Fun hour of 5 mini-plays. Ziglin's "Speak Softly ..." full of
computerese/sex talk really smart writing. Hall's "Twinship Kinship"
had a charming vaudeville touch to it & entertaining wordplay. I like
its silliness. Bradford's "Good Daughter," was great. 4 stars
for that one. Nice surprise payoff. It made me think about my own mother
& her current elder care situation. Gutman's "Borders," etc.
Amazing package of 30 yr bio in 10 mins time. Then Bogues' "Harley
& Handel" was both funny & poignant: mother & son, a cigar
box, cookies & a pending trip to a concert. Solid direction & clever
transition from one play to the next. Zipped right along. Excellent acting
-- especially Sondra Putnam, in the computer sex talk piece and Pat Parker
as the mother of the "good" daughter. It was my first time Fringe
show & now I'm looking around for more to see before this years production
ends.
Play: Check the Box: Merging Voices
Reviewer: Patricia Koob
Reviewer Email: pattylu3@yahoo.com
Rating: 5 Stars
Who would dream that so much could be said in a 10-minute play? All five
in this collection were gems, beautifully written, acted, directed, and
staged. I can't wait to see more plays by the five fabulous female playwrights!
Play: Check the Box: Merging Voices
Reviewer: Vince Vitale
Reviewer Email: WorldGazer@aol.com
Rating: 4 Stars
What could you expect from five performances in one hour? Quite a bit, actually.
Three are more vignettes than plays, with interesting takes on networking
without a sexual undertoe, the life of twins, and navigating ethnic prejudice
when you’re born multi-ethnic. The other two are mini-plays. “Harley
and Handel” by Maureen Bogues is a touching story of family dynamics,
when someone is not allowed into the life of the other because of the sense
of not being safe, and the potential for healing. “The Good Daughter”
by Robin Bradford stands out as a gem, almost Twilight Zone. How this mother/daughter
emotional baggage plays out I won’t reveal, for belying the plot. I
can easily recommend seeing “Check the Box” just to see “The
Good Daughter.”