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Medea Knows Best by Claytie Mason and Alissa Mortenson, Nebunele Theatre Company
San Francisco Chronicle April 17, 2008 (Robert Hurwitt) "A devilishly clever rethinking of the classic"
DIVA Cabaret
San Francisco Bay Guardian April 23, 2008 (Robert Avila) "The late-night staging of song and sass hosted by rule-bender and honorary diva Sean Owens, this enjoyably lounge-y evening takes its cue from the smart, playful material and smoothly casual performances of seven chanteuses and the off-the-cuff drollery of a cuffless Owens"
DIVAfest 2008
Theatre Bay Area Magazine April 2008 (Aaron Sankin) "2008 looks to be one of the festival's strongest years yet"
SF Weekly April 9, 2008 (Hiya Swanhuyser) "The seventh instance of Divafest, the locally produced women's theater festival, comes at you from all over the place."
The Pandora Experiment by Christian Cagigal
SF Weekly March 19, 2008 (Nirmala Majaraj) "Cagigal -- one of those rare alchemists of the imagination who can transport you into the realm of the extraordinary with little more than a line of poetry -- is so charming that it's hard not to find yourself swept up in all the enchantment."
SF Chronicle March 20, 2008 (Reyhan Harcanci) "It's like, can I bring people in to a fantasy world for a while. The more we hurtle forward today, the more we desperately need that - to be in a magical world."
SF Bay Guardian March 12, 2008 (Robert Avila) "Dastardly clever in conception and confoundingly smooth in execution"
SF Station July 13, 2007 (Nirmala Najaraj) "The quiet intimacy of the staging, unlike most illusions (which are solely superficial and surface-based), makes you feel like you’re privy to a very special secret, and that sense of mystery ripples through the entire show and gradually into your very psyche."
SF Weekly June 20, 2007 (Nara Dahlbacka) "Takes the audience beyond just the willing suspension of disbelief and into another place in time where magic is not the work of an illusionist or performer but exists in creaky wooden boxes found in a grandparent's attic"
Mimetic by RIPE Theatre
SF Bay Guardian March 26, 2008 (Nicole Gluckstern) "If you have yet to see RIPE Theatre in action, this show will provide a gentle introduction to their method, and if you have, then you probably already know what you're in for"
SF Weekly March 19, 2008 (Nathaniel Eaton) "Fine examples of skillful physical comedy ... with some hilarious moments"
Ashes to Ashes by Harold Pinter and Afterplay by Brian Friel
SF Bay Guardian February 27, 2008 (Nicole Gluckstern) "Overall, if this production has a fatal flaw, it's that it is only being mounted for a two-week run"
Serve by Expiration by Thunderbird Theatre Company
SF Weekly March 12, 2008 (Molly Rhodes) "The joys of online porn, masturbation, and cursing out your superior"
Bay Guardian March 12, 2008 (Nicole Gluckstern) "A fearless lineup of Thunderbird regulars and a few newbies keep their faces straight and the energy popping throughout"
Her Majesty by Sean Owens
nytheatre.com February 29, 2008 (Robert Attenweiler) "Owens and Augello are able to convey the frenetic pace of good farce ... Her Majesty is campy and tongue-in-cheek"
nytheatre.com February 26, 2008 (nytheatre preview) "Her Majesty is mile-a-minute lunacy, deeply rooted in the nobility of theatre. Like a two-person Noises Off, it's a whirlwind of people, places and plots, but the greatest gift to the audience is its sparkling dialogue and keen characterizations."
SF Bay Times February 21, 2008 (Linda Ayres-Frederick) "Backstage shenanigans abound ... the plot has a distinct flavor of the best of soap opera dirt ... (and) eventually the farce gives way to the general folly of theatre"
The Necessity of Hank by Val and Noah Kelly
SF Weekly December 5, 2007 (Molly Rhodes) "If you have yet to experience RIPE Theatre, you are missing one of the most theatrically adventurous companies in the area"
SF Bay Guardian December 5, 2007 (Robert Avila) "The jarring design and quirky humor throughout nonetheless lead to an anxious, slow-dawning poignancy"
Attrition by Marilee Talkington
Jeffrey R. Smith October 19, 2007 "Rarely does one experience the intensity of such a tightly integrated play: it braids sight and sound and script into a high tension steel cable that tugs the audience through a gauntlet of emotions"
SF Bay Times October 18, 2007 (Albert Goodwyn )"A wrenching insight into the lives of some characters we probably do not know, but might like to"
SF Chronicle October 11, 2007 (Reyhan Harmanci)
2007 San Francisco Fringe Festival
SF Chronicle September 8, 2007 (Reyhan Harmanci) "As every show's warm response from the audience indicated, they're pleased by the effort"
Naught But Pirates by Sean Owens
SF Weekly June 20, 2007 (Chloe Veltman) "With his salty one-man show titillatingly titled Naught but Pirates, San Francisco's very own captain of theatrical camp, Sean Owens, explores the murky line separating truth from fiction in the great debate about seafarers' sexuality"
San Francisco Chronicle June 19, 2007 (Robert Hurwitt) "Ahoy -- a pirate's tale in triplicate ... a clever, compact, three-character pirate yarn told by an engaging chameleon"
FRIGID New York March 27, 2007 (Morgan Lindsay Tachco) Naught But Pirates wins Audience CHOICE Award ... "Intelligent, thought-provoking, intriguing theater. Wonderfully written and acted."
nytheatre.com March 9, 2007 (J. Jordan) "Extremely well written and superbly acted ... Owens's pirate is charming and refined, despite advising us that he recently bit off someone's ear"
Broadway.com February 8, 2007 "FRIGID New York will present the world premiere of Sean Owens' Naught But Pirates, a solo swish-and-swashbuckling adventure, with musical score by Don Seaver"
Jump! Theatre's Springboard Showcase
SF Weekly May 30, 2007 (Michael Leaverton) "Jump! simply deals with the thorny issues head on"
Crystal Daze by Deborah Eubanks
SF Chronicle May 1, 2007 (Robert Hurwitt) "A daringly honest, partly autobiographical effort, earnestly and engagingly performed and laced with passages of gripping intensity"
SF Bay Times May 3, 2007 (Adele Chavez) "Superbly written and unsparingly emotional, the play shows you true love and true pain as the bonds between mother and daughter are strained — but never to breaking point — by the seduction of Crystal Meth"
SF Bay Guardian April 25, 2007 (Nicole Gluckstern) "A commitment to shows authored, directed, and performed by women"
North Bay Bohemian May10, 2007 (Patricia Lynn Henley) "Written from the heart-rending perspective of two mothers whose daughters have been seduced by the character of Crystal Meth"
Sassy & Seductive a diva cabaret
SF Weekly May 2, 2007 (Nathaniel Eaton) "The true star of the show, though, is first-time lyricist Mia Paschal ..."
Woyzeck by Georg Buchner
SF Chronicle March 17, 2007 (Robert Hurwitt) "Riveting in Adriana Baer's visually stunning and inventive Cutting Ball Theater staging of a vital new translation by Rob Melrose"
Oakland Tribune March 22, 2007 (Chad Jones) "Rob Melrose has given the text an accessible new translation, and director Adriana Baer helps focus Buchner's manic story with a beautifully designed and sturdily performed production"
Hardly Breathing by Deborah Wade
San Francisco Tribune March 21, 2007 (Mario Eschevarria) "Esta suculenta producción esta magníficamente dirigida por Noah Kelly y ha sido escrita por el genio desviado y creativo de Deborah Wade; hay que tener mucha imaginación para escribir una locura tan divertida"
SF Bay Times March 15, 2007 (Linda Ayres Frederick) "Hardly Breathing makes for a light-hearted but well crafted piece of theatre with its wry wit and some very cleverly written lines to enjoy"
SF Bay Guardian March 14, 2007 (Robert Avila) "Nicely madcap ... noir-tinged romantic comedy"
Chemical Imbalance by Lauren Wilson
SF Bay Guardian March 21, 2007 (Robert Avila) "Director Matthew Graham Smith, a Dell'Arte Company core member, and his sharp cast mix some potent concoctions"
SF Bay Times March 15, 2007 (Albert Goodwyn) "The humor is non-stop ... spooky, blood-spattered horror with broad comedy ... a Victorian morality play with all the mannered excesses of British farce"
SF Weekly March 8, 2007 (Nirmala Nataraj) "Director David Robertson and playwright Lauren Wilson spit-shine their reputation for farcical kitchen-sink melodrama and Grand Guignol antics with their cast of imbred dandies, nested references to Victorian-era repression, and arch commentary on a fallen empire"
Serve by Expiration by Sang S. Kim
SF Bay Guardian January 31, 2007 (Nicole Gluckstern) "Hard-boiled serial drama, space-age musical, Greek tragedy ... boisterous good humor and a sly touch of literary acumen"
365 Plays/365 Days by Suzan-Lori Parks
SF Weekly January 3, 2007 (Chloe Veltman) "The combination of Parks' imprimatur and the careening imaginations of the groups involved inspires confidence and hope"
FRIGID Festival
BroadwayWorld.com December 9, 2006 "EXIT Theatre, San Francisco's downtown indie home for new and alternative performance, is partnering with New York's Horse Trade Theater to produce a 12-day indie theatre festival in three venues in downtown Manhattan."
super:anti:reluctant by mugwumpin
SF Weekly December 6, 2006 (Nathaniel Eaton) "Like an abstract expressionist painting"
www.metblogs.com (Mark Pritchard) November 9, 2006 "On Wednesday morning I sat down to talk with Denmo Ibrahim and Christopher White, two of the three co-founders of mugwumpin, to talk about their play and their process ..."
Strip World! by Rey Carolino
SF Weekly December 13, 2006 (Molly Rhodes) "Yeah, so, where's the stripping?"
2006 San Francisco Fringe Festival
San Francisco Chronicle Sunday Datebook September 3, 2006 (Sam Hurwitt) "Fringe Festival Rocks and Rolls"
SF Weekly September 13, 2006 "One of the most relaxing, fun, and cheap theater experiences around"
SF Fringe Festival (Chloe Veltman)
The Secret Ruths of Island House (Chloe Veltman)
Flamenco con Fusion (Chloe Veltman)
21/One (Nathaniel Eaton)
The Neon Man and Me (Nathaniel Eaton)
Woof, Daddy (Nathaniel Eaton)
Another Ugly Duckling Tale (Frank Wortham)
The Thrilling Adventures of Elvis in Space - 2- Elvis Rex (Frank Wortham)
Waiting for Bordeaux (Frank Wortham)
San Francisco Bay Guardian September 13, 2006 (Robert Avila) "That 12-day carnival of the theater world gleefully unimpeded by judges' panels, censors' boards, or the general plague of good taste"
Babylon Heights by Irvine Welsh and Dean Cavanagh
Financial Times June 14, 2006 (Chloe Veltman) "Babylon Heights may be about the mistreatment of little people on the Oz film set, but it is equally about mistreatment of 'little people' in a bullying, 'big people' centric world"
SF Weekly June 28, 2006 (Chloe Veltman) "The play's handling of its central theme — the little person's struggle in a big person's world — resonates at several levels"
SF Bay Guardian June 21, 2006 (Robert Avila) "Celebrated novelist Irvine Welsh (Trainspotting) and screenwriter Dean Cavanagh's ribald new stage comedy"
Last of the Red-Hot Dadas by Kerry Reid
Village Voice June 14, 2006 (Soloski) "Solo performer Christina Augello resurrects this “Mama of the American Dadaist movement"
Chicago Sun Times (August 22, 2003) Preview article for Rhino
Chicago Daily Herald (August 2003) Preview article for Rhino Fest which will include Last of the Red-Hot Dadas.
Scotsman (August 16, 2003) "This is a powerfully emotional performance with a force that will leave you drained; all the grief, passion, derision, rage, and love that imbued Elsa’s life is transferred to the audience and it’s impossible not to be utterly transfixed."
edinburgh-festivals.com audience review (Doug) August 13, 2003 "5 Stars ... Hilarious, scabrous, poetic and wise. Yet there is a tragic emotional honesty behind it all - the story of a true original and a life lived passionately and for keeps."
one4review.com Scotland August 2003 "Please take my advise and see this show Christina Augello gets deeply into character and performs a visual experience not to be missed."
The List Scotland August 2003 (Andrea Harkin) "Augello's performance is virtually faultless"
The Herald Scotland August 19, 2003 (Louisa McEwan)
Three Week e-Daily Scotland August 5, 2003 "Christina Augello passionately brings the historical figure to life and manages to comment on American greed, the myth of female sexual innocence, and the Baroness' painful childhood while breathing life into a host of puppets and performing a found poetry-cum-urination piece that would make any true-blue Dadaist proud."
The List, Scotland July 31, 2003 "Talking to Augello, it becomes clear that she has developed a bond with Elsa that goes beyond simple theatrical production"
Winnipeg CBC July 23, 2003 (Linda Harlos) "Both (Baroness Elsa and Christina Augello) have chosen the "freedom of passion", tell the unvarnished truth ("the only thing worth living for"), declining to shut up for the world's convenience, and want to live in a world where they're honoured for their true selves. Is that too much to ask?"
Audience Review on CBC July 19, 2003 (joannetta) "Strong, fascinating, confident
I loved this play's human-ness and visual beauty. Elsa's conversation is such a gift to be a part of."
Audience Review on CBC July 17, 2003 (Adele Kory) "creative story - line, incredible delivery and unique costume and set....definitely a 5 star performance"
Toronto Eye July 10, 2003 (Holland Gidney) "art come to life onstage"
Montreal Mirror June 19, 2003 (Amy German) "charismatic and professional performance"
SF Chronicle August 1, 2002 (James Sullivan) "A big achievement in a little package"
Backstage West June 13, 2002 (Jean Schiffman) "Christina Augello brought a cheery bitterness, flamboyance, and humor to the role under John Warren's imaginative direction."
The Death of the Last Black Man in the Whole Entire World by Suzan-Lori Parks
SF Chronicle June 6, 2006 (Robert Hurwitt) "A smart, funny, densely allusive and strangely moving, 70-minute, non-linear exploration of African American history, rife with provocative cultural and literary references."
SF Weekly June 14, 2006 (Chloe Veltman) "Like a Dizzy Gillespie trumpet solo or Billie Holiday singing "Strange Fruit," the show emits an irrepressible energy that can't be quashed"
SF Bay Guardian June 14, 2006 (Robert Avila) "Rob Melrose's beautifully pitched staging of Parks's meditation on history and the African American experience is an altogether impressive achievement"
SF Weekly June 7, 2006 (Nirmala Nataraj) "Pulitzer Prize–winning playwright Suzan-Lori Parks has a distinctive patois, flavored with soul food and libations from a stream of consciousness"
Oakland Tribune June 6, 2006 (Chad Jones)
SF Bay Times June 2006 (Linda Ayres-Frederick
SF Weekly Best of San Francisco 2006 Awards May 17, 2006
Best Producer Christina Augello "This formidable local theater impresario has been largely responsible for rescuing San Francisco theater-goers from the clutches of pointless touring Broadway shows and stolid repertory fare"
Best Intrepreter of Theatrical Chestnuts Cutting Ball Theater "The daredevil approach to standards is what places it a cut above the rest"
Best Comic Playwright Sean Owens "With a highly developed sense of the silly and a consummate feeling for dramatic structure and comic delay, Owens has rightly won adoration among Bay Area audiences as a playwright for the past 15 years"
DIVAfest 2006
San Francisco Chronicle April 26, 2006 (Rob Hurwitt) "Anything that produces work of this quality is worth the effort"
San Francisco Weekly May 3, 2006 (Chloe Veltman) "Upon closer analysis, DIVAfest seems to be pushing for an alternative definition of diva."
SF Bay Guardian April 26, 2006 (Karen McKevitt) "(Guns and Ammunition) akin to listening to fingernails on a chalkboard ... a testament to McKereghan's writing and Carol Flanagan's spot-on performance" "(Beauty and the Breast) charming and heartbreaking ... an artistic leap for the company"
SF Bay Times April 27, 2006 (Laurie Bushman) "A completely enjoyable experience"
Beauty and the Breast by Liebe Wetzel
Marin Independent Journal April 18, 2006 (Elsa Knox Butler) "A play doesn't happen on stage, it happens in your imagination. It happens when you connect the material to what you see"
San Francisco Bay Times April 27, 2006 (Laurie Bushman) "An amazing piece of theater."
Cool As Hell Theatre podcast (Michael Rice)
Moky's Life 101 by Moky Huynh
SF Weekly April 12, 2006 (Nathaniel Eaton) "Moky's got a lot to say, and is at times inspiring, abrasive, and, as when he performs a spot-on Michael Jackson dance to a Tupac Shakur song, one of a kind"
Love's Labor's Lost by William Shakespeare
SF Bay Guardian March 29, 2006 (Robert Avila) "Raw energy and a sexy, sassy humor backed by ample doses of alt-rock–driven dance fever"
Arrhythmica by Ripe Theatre Company
SF Bay Times March 16, 2006 (Linda Ayres-Frederick) "Wonderfully offbeat sense of humor used in the ordinary and extraordinary situations"
flavorpill.com March 28, 2006 (Jonathan Knapp) "The closing number — ghouls dancing to Matmos — demonstrates what the RIPE Theatre's actors/writers do best: silliness"
100 Years of Sex Acts by Eastenders Repertory Company
SF Bay Guardian March 8, 2006 (Robert Avila) "Eastenders Repertory Company has made one-act fests their subspecialty, presenting ambitious programs annually under specific overarching themes. This year's topic, sex, sustains itself over three night's worth of brief but passionate work by the likes of Albee, Caryl Churchill, Lorca, and Strindberg."
SF Chronicle March 2006 (Robert Hurwitt) "Three programs of intriguing, seldom-seen one-acts by six important playwrights"
Uncle Buzzy's Home Town Theater Show
SF Tribune February 2006 (Mario A. Echevarria translated by Chris Schlesinger) "An amusing series of sketches about a very funny young man who travels from the country to the big city to look for a better life"
SF Tribune (in Spanish) February 2006 (Mario A. Echevarria) "Uncle Buzzy es una divertida serie de sketches sumamente divertidos sobre un joven que viajo del campo a la gran ciudad para buscar mejoras en su vida"
The Maids by Jean Genet
SF Bay Times January 26, 2006 (Ed Brownson) "A marvelous production"
SF Bay Guardian February 8, 2006 (Robert Avila) "Cutting Ball Theater's crisp, elegantly staged production affirms its still-compelling style and darkly poetic force. And Adriana Baer's taut, intelligent direction makes the most of playwright Martin Crimp's bracing new translation."
SF Weekly February 8, 2006 (Nathaniel Eaton) "Director Adriana Baer packages the tale adeptly in this sexy and provoking production"
Nightgown, Symphony by mugwumpin
SF Weekly February 8, 2006 (Chloe Veltman) "Symphony mixes mime, commedia dell'arte-inspired humor, object theater, and live piano and accordion music to tell the story of an archetypal couple caught up in an endless cycle of breaking up and making up. Nightgown ... revolves around the relationship between a musician, his girlfriend, and his phantom muse, and is adapted from a 17th-century Chinese ghost story"
Odd by Nature by Sean Owens
SF Bay Times January 26, 2006 (Tom Kelly) "A kooky and spooky sense of humor that never ceases to surprise and entertain. It’s certifiably a mischievously merry and occasionally macabre night of theatre."
SF Weekly February 1, 2006 (Chloe Veltman) "An entertaining tasting menu of sweet and savory short plays ... Chef Owens' evening of short plays brings to mind the experience of supping at Gary Danko or the French Laundry -- and at a fraction of the calories and price"
SF Bay Guardian February 1, 2006 (Robert Avila) "A keenly parodical observer of creation, especially in its more heightened representations on stage, screen, and song"
Porcelain by Chay Yew
SF Bay Guardian November 22, 2005 (Robert Avila) "An elegantly designed, smoothly executed production"
The False Servant by Pierre Marivaux
SF Weekly December 14, 2005 (Chloe Veltman) "A challenging, confusing gender-bender of a play strikes a brilliant note"
SF Bay Guardian November 16, 2005 (Robert Avila) "In Abydos Theater's razor sharp production of Pierre Marivaux's classic 18th-century French comedy, love, gender, and sexual desire prove as fluid as money – and all four are bound up together in a continual, erotically charged dance that confirms the observation: 'In this life, we are all servants of someone or another.'"
Marin Independent Journal November 8, 2005 (Charles Brousse) "No false notes in Marivaux's 'Servant'"
Critic's Circle November 2005 (Jeffrey R. Smith) "Abydos Theater has achieved an artistic refinement rarely evidenced in San Francisco theaters"
There Be Monsters! by Dan Carbone
SF Weekly November 2, 2005 (Chloe Veltman) "A cross between Dr. Seuss and Freddy Krueger -- with a touch of Lewis Carroll thrown in for good measure -- Carbone is a big, bald man-child exorcising inner demons with a goofy grin and an old-fashioned trunk."
SF Bay Guardian October 26, 2005 (Robert Avila) "Carbone's unchained subconscious delivers up these fondled toys and decorative items with an undiminished relish, like a do-it-yourself pagan's mystical communion with the hall closet, or a stylized version of some OCD-driven creativity spied in the studio apartment across the street"
SFist October 14, 2005 (Karen McKevitt) "You think you're a freak? You think you've seen some rad, edgy theater? Then you haven't seen a Carbone show."
2005 San Francisco Bay Guardian Goldie Award for Theater to Cutting Ball Theater
SF Bay Guardian November 9, 2005 (Robert Avila)"Daring, idiosyncratic, and ambitious, the company steadily grew from a tiny ad hoc Fringe Festival production in 1997 into today's 21-member ensemble, a group capable of regularly presenting local and world premieres by an international assortment of established and up-and-coming playwrights"
Risk Is This by Cutting Ball Theatre
SFist October 14, 2005 (Karen McKevitt) "Thank god for Cutting Ball, which brings us truly experimental new plays instead of those with New York's bland stamp of approval"
Manumission by Martha Soukup
SF Bay Guardian October 12, 2005 "Strong performances by the entire Cassandra's Call Productions team"
2005 San Francisco Fringe Festival
talkingbroadway.com August 2, 2005 "Big Business and U.S. Economy Get Jaundiced Eye at 14th Annual S.F. Fringe Theatre Festival. Among topics at 12-Day Festival are Evil Conglomerates, Manipulated Consumers, and the Return of a 1930s-like Depression"
Slow Flying Bird by Christine Evans
SF Chronicle July 30, 2005 (Sam Hurwitt) "much of the play exists in a bizarre, dreamlike realm thick with metaphor"
SF Bay Guardian August 3, 2005 (Robert Avila) "When the world becomes too unreal to be believed, surrealism can be the best mirror for capturing it. Crowded Fire knows this as well as any theater company"
E.O. 9066 by Liebe Wetzel
SF Weekly August 24, 2005 (Chloe Veltman)
EXIT Theatre: Best Offbeat Theater
SF Weekly Best of the Bay 2005 May 11, 2005 "A sanctuary for small-scale, big-attitude San Francisco stagecraft since 1983"
Boxcar Bertha by Kerry Reid in collaboration with Christina Augello and John Warren
SF Weekly July 20, 2005 (Chloe Veltman) "In this understated, thoughtful little show (which would work just as well performed on a street corner, a ship's deck, or, indeed, in a railroad car), Augello and Walroth do more than tell Bertha's bittersweet story -- they evoke an entire era."
CBC Canada July 15, 2004 (Cindy Burke) "Hop on board "Boxcar Bertha". It's a great ride."
Winnipeg Free Press July 15, 2004 (Anna Lazowski ) "Christina Augello stars in this story based on the life of 1930s hobo ... Jack "Applejack" Walroth lends authenticity with live musical accompaniment"
Uptown Magazine July 22, 2004
Audience Review on CBC website (Nick Ternette)
Winnipeg Fringe Audience Reviews:
"BOXCAR BERTHA with Christina Augello is marvellous"(joannetta)
"Solidarity Forever ! Best monologue I've seen at this year's Fringe. Extremely enjoyable journey into America's depression. Well Done." (Uncle Sparky)
"BOXCAR BERTHA! Wonderfully told stories. Good theatre!" (alin)
"A well crafted, old story for our times" (lea)
"Though preaching to the converted and unlikely to convince anyone in the audience who's not already a confirmed Wobblie, "Boxcar Bertha" is a worthy piece of labour/Dirty Thirties American history. It might educate those who don't know her story.
Good actress - believable. And the background acoustic guitar from John Warren is absolutely great! Sit on the far left side (from the audience's perspective) to sit near him, so you can hear him well, as he has no mike.Recommended." (barb from Ottawa)
SF Bay Guardian May 26, 2004 (Robert Avila) "(Bertha's) tour of the country has her working variously as a grifter, prostitute, and labor agitator, all the while balancing her indignation on behalf of the oppressed and her prescriptions for a better world with a strong sense of the humor and beauty in human relations"
University of Manitoba FM 101.5 (Justin Olynyk) July 2004 "A really interesting story ... it presents a very complete picture of Bertha"
Macbeth
SF Weekly June 1, 2005 (Chloe Veltman) "This Macbeth is intriguing, intellectually involving, visually imaginative, and -- best of all -- funny."
SF Bay Guardian June 1, 2005 (Robert Avila) "Physically compact, visually striking production of Shakespeare's tragedy ... casts a suitably spooky spell for a play that's half ghost story and half waking mightmare ... (and) climbs to a potent crescendo."
SF Chronicle May 2005 (Robert Hurwitt) " A bold, innovative approach in a slightly cut, intriguingly rearranged, inventively staged version of Shakespeare's great tragedy"
SF Weekly May 11, 2005 (Karen Macklin) "As heinous as they are as murderers," Melrose says, "it's probably the most successful marriage in Shakespeare."
Thanatics -- A Rock Opera
SF Weekly June 22, 2005 (Chloe Veltman)
Diane di Prima
SF Bay Guardian April 27, 2005 (Robert Avila) "A leading voice of the still-beating beat generation, and one of the only women associated with it, Diane di Prima will read from her epic poem Loba"
The Mandala Olive Project
SF Chronicle April 26, 2005 (Robert Hurwitt) "Intriguing, raw, inventive and promising"
SF Bay Guardian April 27, 2005 (Robert Avila)
Ambivalent Geneses
SF Bay Guardian April 27, 2005 (Anna Mantzaris)
EXIT Theatre
Beyond Chron April 11, 2005 (Eric Schaefer) "Since 1983 the EXIT Theater, now located at 156 Eddy street and 277 Taylor street, has served up some of the freshest and most original shows in a town crowded with great theater"
One Big Lie by Liz Duffy Adams
SF Chronicle (Robert Hurwitt) "A savvy, tantalizing, funny, at times frustrating and for the most part beguiling dance with the problem of evil -- metaphysical and social"
SF Bay Guardian April 6, 2005 (Robert Avila) "One Big Lie is a deadly serious frolic with a wary eye on the immediate future"
Oakland Tribune March 22, 2005 (Chad Jones) "'One Big Lie' reaffirms that Adams is a voice meant for our time."
SF Weekly March 16, 2005 (Karen Macklin) "The project may be Crowded Fire's most ambitious work to date (it's funded in part by the NEA and Zellerbach). But, says Novick, it's 'squarely in the heart of what we do: work that's experimental and new and stretching the boundaries of the form.'"
SF Chronicle March 13, 2005 (Sam Hurwitt) "I just think the least you can ask for from art is that it be at least as interesting as life."
Magic @ the EXIT ... (cafe) by Christian Cagigel
SF Weekly March 23, 2005 (Chloe Veltman) "Cagigel's brand of magic is the kind you would have seen at Victorian fairgrounds 150 years ago ... transformed into intimate specacle via Chagigel's wry sense of humor, ability to work the crowd, and considerable conjuring skills."
American Irish by Ken Slattery
SF Weekly March 16, 2005 (Chloe Veltman) "Full of funny and touching moments"
SF Bay Guardian March 16, 2005 (Anna Mantaris)
Family Jewels - the Making of Veronica Klaus
SF Bay Guardian March 2005 (Robert Avila) "Veronica Klaus puts the confident, velvety voice for which she is deservedly known to the story of her exceptional life"
SF Weekly February 23, 2005 (Nirmala Nataraj) "The best gender-bending live shows since David Bowie donned mascara"
No Exit by Jean-Paul Sartre
SF Bay Guardian February 2, 2005 "Simple, elegant, and brutal: three words that also apply to Cutting Ball Theater's excellent production of Sartre's 1944 drama"
SF Weekly February 2, 2005 "The Cutting Ball's production, with its elegance and force, mines deep into the soul of Sartre's text, holding up a mirror to human nature"
SF Weekly Article on Market Street "The Exit Theatre has built a complex of little stages over the last 20 years that has single-handedly brightened sections of the Tenderloin, near Market and Cyril Magnin"
Come Fly With Me Nude by Diane Karagienakos and Todd Pickering
SF Bay Guardian December 8, 2004 "Part autobiography, part meta-theater, and part cartoon cabaret, Come Fly with Me Nude is a loosely structured love song to bedroom rock stars and bathroom Broadway divas everywhere."
SF Weekly December 1, 2004 "Karagienakos and Pickering make cappuccino-sipping, all-black-wearing, name-dropping pretensions downright endearing"
Cicada by Sarah McKereghan
SF Bay Guardian November 10, 2004 (Robert Avila) "Ripe Theater's involving and witty drama (written by cofounder McKereghan) is an inventive, eerily prescient reflection on opposition to a mad world order. Featuring an excellent cast - buoyed by Noah Kelly's playful, always intelligent direction - its almost sci-fi ambience gains cathartic intensity in the recent election's miserable aftermath, further heightening its themes of struggle and renewal."
SF Bay Guardian December 22, 2004 (Year end review of Bay Area Theater by Robert Avila)
69Stories: One Pervert's Tale and No Good Deed by Mollena Williams
SF Weekly November 3, 2004 (Michael Scott Moore) "Both of Mollena Williams' sexy shows are great fun"
SF Chronicle October 19, 2004 (Robert Hurwitt) "The versatile Williams graces her strong presence and vivid acting skills with an engagingly warm persona"
SF Bay Guardian October 27, 2004 (Robert Avila) "Williams ensures her seductive lesson in erotic play draws its real force from the fact that we're never allowed to lose sight of the simple human heart at the center of the outré sexual adventurer"
Avant GardArma!
SF Chronicle October 19, 2004 (Robert Hurwitt) "Five shorts spell one night to remember"
San Francisco Fringe Festival 2004
SF Chronicle September 14, 2004 (Robert Hurwitt) "My day on the Fringe consisted of one pleasant surprise after another"
SF Bay Guardian September 15, 2004 (Robert Avila) "The 13th annual San Francisco Fringe Festival amounts to a feast that's neither fish nor fowl but has plenty of bananas, eggs, chocolate, and greasepaint to go around"
Marin Independent Journal September 12, 2004 (Pat Polito)
SF Bay Guardian September 15, 2004 (Lisa Shalson)
SF Weekly September 15, 2004 (Michael Scott Moore)
Contra Costa Times September 14, 2004 (Pat Craig)
Becca and Heidi by Sharon Eberhardt
SF Bay Guardian July 21, 2004 (Chloe Veltman) "Lindsay Anderson expertly milks the bathos at the heart of Eberhardt's play"
Contra Costa Times July 24, 2004 "An astonishing work of imagination"
SF Weekly July 14, 2004 (Karen Macklin) "Local playwright Sharon Eberhardt's new one-woman play about split personality and morality"
A multitude of new plays awaits visiting critics
SF Chronicle June 1, 2004 (Robert Hurwitt)
DIVAfest 2004
SF Chronicle May 24, 2004 (Robert Hurwitt)
SF Bay Guardian 8 Days A Week May 19, 2004 (Robert Avila)
digitalcity.com Featured Pick May 20, 2004 (Arne Johnson)
Oakland Tribune May 21, 2004 (Chad Jones)
SF Bay Guardian May 26, 2004 (Robert Avila)
Cabaret Rebel with Beth Wilmurt and music by David Malloy and David Babich
SF Weekly May 5, 2005 (Michael Scott Moore) "A shamelessly earnest and sexy revival of American standards"
SF Bay Guardian April 28, 2004 (Robert Avila) "Beth Wilmurt's outré cabaret, a reprise of the widely hailed performance piece she conceived for EXIT Theatre's 2003 DIVAfest"
Valparaiso by Don DeLillo
SF Weekly April 28, 2004 (Michael Scott Moore) "The effect is eerie; your skin will crawl. FoolsFury has mounted a solid production with fancy trimmings"
SF Bay Guardian April 28, 2004 (Robert Avila) "No American writer limns the metaphysics of this runaway technological age quite like the author of White Noise and Underworld"
Slaughter City by Naomi Wallace
Oakland Tribune April 13, 2004 (Chad Jones) "A powerful, unsettling experience. In one messy package, the play manages to be a tirade against worker injustice and an erotic ode to the abused bodies of workers everywhere"
SF Bay Guardian April 21, 2004 (Robert Avila) "The play's two acts ... traverse a deeply psychological terrain of pent-up desires and blurred racial, sexual, and class boundaries, all against the shadowy backdrop of U.S. labor history"
SF Chronicle April 12, 2004 (Robert Hurwitt) "Magnetic, compelling and unceasingly provocative in Rebecca Novick's strong Crowded Fire production"
Oakland Tribune April 12, 2004 (Chad Jones) "A powerful, unsettling experience"
SF Weekly April 28, 2004 (Michael Scott Moore) "Everything from race to women's rights to the politics of sex in one grandiose sweep"
SF Weekly April 7, 2004 (Sunny Andersen) "With a slightly surreal bent, Wallace's play examines a complex tangle of issues -- gender, race, politics, and the human condition -- while still maintaining tinges of humor and poetry"
SF Arts Monthly April 2004 (Jean Schiffman) "This small company knows how to clarify difficult contemporary material, making particularly creative use of expressive stage movement"
Sandwich with Banana, Bag & Bodice
SF Chronicle March 23, 2004 (Robert Hurwitt) "'Sandwich' is a casually madcap creation that isn't just funny and thought-provoking but funny about its thoughts and need to provoke. It's deceptively crisp, remarkably tight, cagily convoluted and curiously refreshing"
SF Weekly April 7, 2004 (Silke Tudor) "Grotesque, whimsical, and bone-achingly funny"
SF Bay Guardian March 31, 2004 (Robert Avila) "A darkly absurd and satisfying send-up of the so-far futile attempt to declaw human nature"
Underneath the Lintel by Glen Berger
SF Weekly March 31, 2004 (Michael Scott Moore) "The unexpected sublime ... a marvelously odd inquiry into the existence of God"
SF Bay Guardian March 24, 2004 (Robert Avila) "Berger's light treatment and euphoric ending belie a darker theme"
Underbelly Diaries by Aaron Berg
Bay Area Reporter March 18, 2004 (Adam Sandel) "A bracingly candid and frequently hilarious one-man show"
SF Examiner March 16, 2003 (Bill Picture) "It's obvious just minutes into Berg's show that his best asset isn't his ripped body, it's his ability to tell a story ... Anyone with a slightly twisted or "off" sense of humor would be crazy not to take him up on the offer."
SF Bay Guardian March 24, 2004 (Lara Shalson) "Berg is a dynamic performer and a great storyteller"
SF Weekly March 24, 2004 (Michael Scott Moore) "It may be the most frank and disgusting show on a local stage this season"
A Night Among the Stars
SF Bay Guardian March 24, 2004 (Cheryl Eddy) "An active volcano for San Francisco's alternative performance scene"
An Impersonation of Angels or the Enigma of Desire (Impressions of the Life of Salvador Dali) by Dan Carbone
SF Weekly March 10, 2004 (Michael Scott Moore) "flashes of pure brilliance"
SF Weekly February 18, 2004 (Hiya Swanhuyser) "local playwright Dan Carbone's latest foray onto the stage"
Eye by Jay Levin
SF Weekly February 11, 2004
Speaking in Tongues by Andrew Bovell
SF Chronicle January 27, 2004 "an ever more intricately intertwined tale of four couples disintegrating in a web of infidelities, miscommunication, therapy and possible murder "
Cinghiale! by Emilie Miller
SF Bay Guardian January 21, 2004 (Robert Avila) "a bold, sassy, and dangerous delicacy"
SF Chronicle January 27, 2004 (Robert Hurwitt) "Appealing and talented performer"
Strange Love by the Perry Alley Puppet Theatre
SF Chronicle January 27, 2004 (Robert Hurwitt) "Sweet but precious ... cloyingly didactic"
Uncle Dickie's Wicked Little Christmas Show by Three Wise Monkeys
SF Weekly December 17, 2003 "subversively giggly"
SF Bay Guardian December 10, 2003 (Robert Avila) "evening of subversive seasonal one-acts"
SF Weekly December 10, 2003 (Michael Scott Moore) "three-play variety show on twisted Christmas themes"
Cinghiale! by Emilie Miller
Press Release
Stretch Marks by the Drama Mamas
SF Bay Guardian November 19, 2003 (Robert Avila) "Light but soulful comedy celebrating 'the joy and the madness of mothering.'"
Blue Window by Craig Lucas
SF Bay Guardian October 29, 2003 (Lara Shalson)
A Bright Room Called Day by Tony Kushner
SF Bay Guardian (October 8, 2003) " Agnes (Libby O'Connell), ever the gracious hostess, finds her tongue at last and welcomes Mr. Swetts (John Craven), the Devil, to her home."
San Francisco Fringe Festival 2003
SF Bay Guardian (September 10, 2003) "The Fringe x 12: The venerable festival provided 54 chances to find beauty, truth, communion, and cheap beer – in 60 minutes or less"
SF Chronicle (September 6, 2003) "Take a chance"
SF Weekly (September 10, 2003)
Best of the Bay
SF Bay Guardian 2003 (July 30, 2003) "Best Place to Eat a Cheese Plate While Watching Live Theater"
SF Weekly 2000 (May 17, 2000) "Best Little Theater That Could"
SF Weekly 1999 (May 19, 1999) "Best (3,000 Miles) Off-Broadway Theater"
Edinburgh Fringe Festival 2003
Back Stage West August 2003 (Laura Weinert) "Few experiences will challenge your mettle--and pocketbook--more than a four-week run at the world's largest theatre festival."
Vomit Talk of Ghosts by Kevin Oakes
SF Chronicle July 29, 2003 (Robert Hurwitt) "an often intense, funny and provocative wrestle with mortality, spiritualism and a death wish wrapped in a disturbingly graphic and overheated depiction of the sexual yearnings of two 14-year-old girls"
SF Weekly July 30, 2003 (Michael Scott Moore)
sfgate.com July 2003 (Anna Mantzaris) "dead-on brilliant"
SF Weekly July 23, 2003 Night & Day Pick
SF Bay Guardian July 16, 2003 "So profane, so lubricious, and so fundamentally demented that it's easily one of the most satisfying theatrical evenings around"
SF Bay Guardian 8 Days A Week July 9, 2003 (J.H. Tompkins) "Cutting Ball likes to present edgy, challenging work without the safety of linear plot"
'Maid by Erik Ehn
SF Chronicle July 15, 2003 (Robert Hurwitt) "Playfully and beautifully staged by Crowded Fire artistic director Rebecca Novick, hauntingly accompanied by composer David Rhodes and beguilingly performed, Ehn's modern fable manages to be wistfully gritty, humorously sad and, somehow, translucently opaque"
SF Weekly July 30, 2003 (Michael Scott Moore) "The title's short for "mermaid," and the show's one of the most innovative of the summer"
SF Bay Guardian July 16, 2003 (Robert Avila)"world premiere of Erik Ehn's darkly poetic mermaid fable ... expresses a set of evocative ideas about change and desire against a backdrop of humanmade ruin"
Oakland Tribune July 15, 2003 (Chad Jones)
Summer Shorts: Crossed Wires by Isis Arts Collective
SF Tribune by Mario A. Echevvarria, English translation by Patricia Nell Warren "a surprising triumph"
SF Bay Guardian August 6, 2003 (Baghdachi)"an unqualified success"
Article on small theatre by Pat Craig
Contra Costa Times July 13, 2003 "The best variety is probably offered by the Exit Theatre, a three-stage complex in the middle of San Francisco's somewhat dicey Tenderloin District. But inside, you will be able to see what is tickling the fancy of an enormous variety of playwrights"
White Bird on a Stick by Sha Sha Higby
SF Chronicle July 1, 2003 (Robert Hurwitt)
Silent Movie by Stepanie Abrams, Kinetic Theory Experimental Theatre
SF Weekly June 18, 2003 (Michael Scott Moore) "a wordless, impeccably cool re-enactment of a '20's-era silent film ... that manages to be postmodern and even sexy"
Over Nine Waves by Tim Barsky
SF Weekly June 25, 2003 (Michael Scott Moore) "his work is one-of-a-kind: The blend of storytelling with beatbox ... is flat-out cool"
SF Weekly June 18, 2003 "makes audience stop and take notice ... a genre-defying production"
SF Bay Guardian June 18, 2003 (Cheryl Eddy) "mastermind behind last year's acclaimed solo piece As If in Sleep"
East Bay Express June 4, 2003 (Lisa Drostova) "Barsky's Over Nine Waves is not only a new force in theater, but sophisticated, impassioned storytelling at its best"
Tincture by Sean Owens
SF Bay Guardian June 4, 2003 (Chloe Veltman) "A funny and tender exploration of the widely differing ways people perceive the world around them"
E.O. 9066 by Lunatique Fantastique
Oakland Tribune May 29, 2003 (Chad Jones) "Chalk up another amazing adventure in puppetry for remarkable Liebe Wetzel."
DIVAfest 2003
SF Chronicle May 26, 2003 (Robert Hurwitt) "A mix of good, pretty good and exceptional material."
Oakland Tribune May 29, 2003 (Chad Jones) "Chalk up another amazing adventure in puppetry for remarkable Liebe Wetzel."
SF Bay Guardian May 28, 2003 (Chloe Veltman) "Cabaret Rebel is both defiant of the traditional seductress-in-black-dress cabaret style and a potent celebration of intensity, soulfulness, and, ultimately, sex"
Contra Costa Times May 24, 2003 (Pat Craig) "This (Cabaret Rebel) is certainly not a show to miss" ... "'Toasted,' a strangely chilling monologue that is also achingly funny" ... "If these two acts are any indication of the quality of the Divafest, the Exit Theatre will be hosting some memorable shows over the next few weeks"
KTVU.com May 2003
Libidoff by Dawson Moore
SF Bay Guardian April 30, 2003 (Chloe Veltman) "The spunky cast of six manages to pull off a pretty formidable theatrical feat: a comedy about sex that is as febrile as it is funny"
SF Chronicle May 6, 2003 (Robert Hurwitt)
Queer Theory by John Fisher
SF Chronicle May 6, 2003 (Robert Hurwitt) "Hilarious and incisive comedy in the story of sexually metamorphosing professors"
SF Weeky April 23, 2003 (Michael Scott Moore) "A comedy about gender, identity, gender, gender, identity, and gender identity"
In the Summer House by Jane Bowles
SF Bay Guardian (8 Days A Week) April 16, 2002 (Amir Baghdachi) "A reading of this masterpiece from an unacknowledged master ... a surreal and sensual drama of familial bonds"
Never Far From the Tree by Dave Garrett
sfgate.com April 3, 2003 (Anna Mantaris) "Elegantly tinged with dark humor ... the four actors exhibit near-perfect timing ... and drive the play to a touching and sentimental finale without the Hallmark sap"
in3 instigated by j.ries
SF Bay Guardian April 16, 2003 (Chloe Veltman) "A complex and largely abstract counterpoint of jarring and fluid movement, and spiraling text, music, and color"
SF Weekly April 9, 2003 (Michael Scott Moore) "Like watching the children of Laurie Anderson come up with some new ideas"
SF Bay Guardian March 26, 2003 (Cheryl Eddy) "Fans of experimental theater now have even more reason to sing the praises of Exit Theatre"
A-A-America by Edward Bond
SF Weekly April 9, 2003 (Michael Scott Moore) "Ford and Jones do more of their excellent work here, and Cassie Beck adds to it with a strong performance"
SF Bay Guardian April 2, 2003 (Robert Avila) "Crowded Fire's smart and committed production demands an accounting of social responsibility."
Oakland Tribune March 30, 2003 (Chad Jones) "Complex, absorbing work"
SF Chronicle March 28, 2003 (Rob Hurwitt) "A-A-America! achieves an artful, disquieting topicality as thought-provoking as it is disturbing."
SF Weekly March 19, 2003 (Karen Macklin) "This stateside premiere ... is an aggressive exploration of racism."
Ladies and Gentlemen by Emma Donoghue
SF Weekly February 19 , 2003 (Karen Macklin)
SF Bay Guardian February 19, 2003 (Amir Baghdadchi)
Dreamstealers by Stephen Jacob
SF Bay Guardian January 22, 2003 (Robert Avila) "Quirky but committed 'science fable.' Sort of Pinocchio meets Frankenstein meets Doctor Who."
Working for the Mouse by Trevor Allen
SF Weekly November 27, 2002 (Michael Scott Moore) "Strong solo-performer chops and a keen sense of the pathos underlying the Happiest Place on Earth."
SF Chronicle December 5, 2002 (James Sullivan)
SF Examiner December 5, 2002 (Leslie Katz)
East Bay Express October 30, 2002 (Lisa Drostova)
Oakland Tribune October 25, 2002 (Chad Jones)
The Train Play by Liz Duffy
SF Weekly October 23, 2002 (Michael Scott Moore) "The weight of ideas loaded onto this train would be enough to derail it if the acting weren't so good"
As If In Sleep by Tim Barsky
SF Weekly October 23, 2002 (Michael Scott Moore) "the most teeming, inventive, and good-spirited production in the city right now"
Snake in the Basement: The Prosecution of Rev. Bill Pruitt and Brace Yourself by Liebe Wetzel & Lunatique Fantastique
SF Bay Guardian October 16, 2002 (Shalson) "quite simply, a lovely piece of theater"
SF Bay Guardian May 24, 2000 (Brad Rosenstein) "Superb ... Don't miss this exceptional, intelligent, singular work"
Summer Shorts: Days and Nights by Isis Arts Collective
sfgate.com (Anna Mantzaris) "Forget the beach, wrap yourself in your warmest scarf and head out for a evening of summertime entertainment"
Augustine (Big Hysteria) by Anna Furse
SF Weekly July 24, 2002 (Karen Macklin) "The woman-centered Shee company's debut production hits the bull's-eye"
611 $upreme by E. Hunter Spreen
SF Weekly June 26, 2002 (Karen Macklin) "A passionate, timely play about the fine line between activism and terrorism"
Top Girls by Caryl Churchill
SF Bay Guardian June 12, 2002 (Brad Rosenstein) "Churchill still has few peers among dramatists, and once again she finds a happy home at Crowded Fire"
sfgate.com June 2002 (Anna Mantzaris) "Stellar acting and impeccable timing"
SF Weekly June 19, 2002 "a portrait of a changing society"
SF Weekly Night & Day (May 29, 2002)

Last of the Red-Hot Dadas by Kerry Reid

SF Chronicle August 1, 2002 (James Sullivan) "A big achievement in a little package"
Backstage West June 13, 2002 (Jean Schiffman) "Christina Augello brought a cheery bitterness, flamboyance, and humor to the role under John Warren's imaginative direction."
DIVAfest a festival of theater with a female pursuasion
Oakland Tribune May 24, 2002 (Chad Jones) "Daring mix of styles, subjects makes Divafest divine"
SF Weekly May 15, 2002 (Lisa Hom) "Divine Divas"
SF Bay Guardian May 15, 2002 (Shalson) "Bring your opera glasses and prepare to have your concepts about womanhood overhauled."
SF Independent May 14, 2002 "ranging from vamps to cheerleaders to a Dada baroness"
Michelangelo Did This? by Howard Hain
SF Examiner April 17, 2002 (Leslie Katz) "Michelangelo the personality delivers his insights with panache. He's
almost as good a talker as he was painter and sculptor."
Next In Line by John Warren
SF Bay Guardian April 3, 2002 (Robert Avila) "savvy and contagious comedy-drama"
SF Weekly April 10, 2002 (Michael Scott Moore) "a satire about the everyday rot in the electoral process"
SF Examiner April 2002 (Chad Jones) "goes behind scenes with portrayal of local politics"
Frontiers April 2002 (Erin Blackwell
I am Hamlet by Mark Jackson, Art Street Theatre
SF Bay Guardian March 12, 2002 (Robert Avila) " a tour de force"
sfgate.com March 2002 (Anna Mantzaris) "juicy details and insight Shakespearean scholars spend years speculating about"
SF Weekly March 12, 2002 "The company, which debuted at the S.F. Fringe Festival in 1995, excels at creating meta-theater pieces"
SF Examiner April 9, 2002 (Rob Hughes) "To thine own self he's true"
SF Weekly April 3, 2002 (Michael Scott Moore)
The Magnificent (Ass) Show by Maurissa Afanador
SF Examiner March 12, 2002 (Leslie Katz) "A sprite with the mouth of a truck driver ... She's a hoot, as are her compatriots."
sfgate.com (Anna Mantzaris) "The pace is fast and the laughs keep on coming, thanks to a group of talented comedic actors."
Smoker by Michael Mace
sfgate.com January 23, 2002 (Beth Lisick) "as entertaining as a rowdy night at the tavern, with just enough hangover to let you know you've been stung."
SF Bay Guardian January 23, 2002 (Robert Avila) "Mace displays his usual flair for dialogue and crafting a good story. Director Laura Ellen Smith elicits nice ensemble playing"
SF Weekly February 6, 2002 (Michael Scott Moore) "The play has a colorful, Tarantino-inflected style, with quirky, gun-waving characters and excellent live music by a roots-rock band called the Evil Boll Weevil Boys. "
Nine One One by Various Bay Area Artists
SF Bay Guardian December 12, 2002 (Nancy Einhart)
Are Ya Working? Rants of a Post-Industrial Hybrid by Steven Karwoski
SF Bay Guardian December 6, 2001 (Robert Avila) "Karwoski's sincerity and charm win us over to his side almost immediately"
Whistleaires' Big Christmas Special
Oakland Tribune November 30, 2001 (Chad Jones) "A kitschy, sweet Christmas show ... with its mix of musical guests, magic tricks and fairly spectacular whistling."
Hotel Bethlehem by Tom W. Kelly and Tim Bryant
Oakland Tribune November 30, 2001 (Chad Jones) "What was going on at the inn that rejected Joseph and Mary that fateful Christmas Eve ... definitely for the grown-ups."
SF Weekly December 12, 2001 (Michael Scott Moore)
Shocktoberfest !! by the Thrillpeddlers
SF Weekly House of Tudor October 3, 2001 (Silke Tudor) "One of my favorite events of the Halloween season"
SF Weekly October 25, 2000 (Joe Mader) "Celebrate the holiday in gruesome style"
SF Weekly November 3, 1999 (Silk Tudor) "There is sure to be bloodshed before the evening's end"
San Francisco Fringe Festival (partial list)
SF Bay Guardian September 11, 2001 (J.H. Tomkins) "Festival 2001: the pretty good, the bad, and every once in a while, the exquisite."
SF Weekly September 11, 2001 (Silke Tudor) "A Play in a Day ... writing, rehearsing, and performing in 24 hours"
SF Chronicle September 10, 2001 (Robert Hurwitt) "A pair of aces from the Fringe"
CallBoard Magazine September 2001 (Karen Macklin) "It's hard to believe that the San Francisco Fringe Festival was born just a decade ago."
SF Bay Guardian September 4, 2001 (Cheryl Eddy) "A contemporary, female Frankenstein; the radioactive "Beaverzilla"; Shakespearean queens; a hunky perfume squirter; a revisionist Little Red Riding Hood ... "
SF Weekly September 4, 2001 (Michael Scott Moore) "Bizarre Bazaar"
Contra Costa Times August 31, 2001 (Pat Craig) "one of the best places to encounter this free-form insanity is at the San Francisco Fringe Festival"
SF Chronicle - North Bay Edition August 31, 2001 (Daedalus Howell) "among the international talent pool in the festival are two North Bay acts ... "
San Jose Mercury News August 25, 2001 (Karen D'Souza) "Move over, Kermit! There's a brave new world of
puppetry out there ... "
A Sixth of Streetcar
SF Weekly August 22, 2001 (Night & Day) "A sneak preview of the forthcoming madness that the 10th annual Fringe Fest promises, “Sixth” reflects the anything-goes philosophy of the non-curated theater orgy itself."
All In The Timing by David Ives
sfgate.com July 2001 (Anna Mantzaris) "Not-to-be-missed production"
Better Days by Gillian Chadsey
SF Weekly July 25, 2001 (Karen McKevitt) "Remarkably immaginative and intelligent ... stunning ... lightly and magically orchestrated."
Lonely Planet by Steven Dietz
Oakland Tribune July 16, 2001 (Chad Jones) "a gem of a play, and this warmhearted, beautifully acted production will make you appreciate your friends and leave you wanting to make new ones."
True stage grit -- Exit Theatre opens new Tenderloin house
San Francisco Chronicle July 8, 2001 (Steven Winn)
Ladies and Gentlemen, the Opposite Sex ... Enters Iron Workers Local 202
sfgate.com June 2001 (Anna Mantzaras) "engaging and hilarious "
Gogol adapted by Jason Craig and Sean Owens
SF Examiner June 19, 2001 (Joe Mader) "the marvelous Christopher Kuckenbaker ... approaches Chaplin in the empathy and originality he displays"
SF Bay Guardian June 13, 2001 (Brad Rosenstein) "a delirious musical whirl that captures the Russian master's lyrical absurdity ... an ideal opening for this vital theater's latest asylum"
SF Chronicle June 13, 2001 (Steven Winn) "Broad clowning ... bright red noses ... slapstick and roller skating in this first production at the EXIT on Taylor"
SF Weekly June 20, 2001 (Michael Scott Moore)
Dimly Perceived Threats to the System by Jon Klein
SF Weekly May 9, 2001 (Karen McKevitt)
Two By Sea by Edward Albee & Richard Greenberg
SF Bay Guardian May 2, 2001 (Brad Rosenstein) "It shines a welcome light on a woefully underappreciated playwright (Greenberg) and an unfairly neglected play (Albee's), and their thoughtful combination makes for another intelligent offering from Paducah Mining Co."
SF Weekly May 16, 2001 (Karen McKevitt)
Io - Princess of Argos! Live! at EXIT Stage Left! by Marci Karr & Mark Jackson
SF Bay Guardian March 14, 2001 (Brad Rosenstein) "An absolute triumph ... Wilmurt is simply brilliant ... Don't miss this inspired gem."
Back Stage West April 12, 2001 (Jean Schiffman) "Everything works in this little musical gem."
SF Examiner March 13, 2001 (Joe Mader) "Breathtaking ... Karr is the equal (and more often, the better) of any current Broadway composer ... the atonishing Beth Wilmurt ... an extraordinary work of empathy and Art."
SF Gate March 20, 2001 (Karen McKevitt) "More evidence that the most exciting San Francisco theater is happening in small spaces."
SF Weekly March 21, 2001 (Michael Scott Moore) "It storms Olympus"
Vincenzia's Talking Machine by Erica Blue
SF Examiner April 1, 2001 (Joe Mader) "Striking images and sequences ... a witch casting a hopeless spell over her makeshift cauldron."
SF Bay Guardian April 4, 2001 (Brad Rosenstein) "A fever chart of desire and dispair"
Marisol by Jose Rivera
sfgate.com March 2001 (Karen McKevitt) "Performance for lovers of the absurd"
SF Bay Guardian April 4, 2001 (Robert Avila) "Political, poetical, frequently poignant ... a compeling drama of social redemption."
Love!Labour!Loss by Edward Albee, Mike Ward & Tom Kelly
SF Bay Guardian March 14, 2001 (Robert Avila)
SF Bay Times March 22, 2001 (Gene Price)
The Slant April 2001
SF Weekly April 4, 2001 (Michael Scott Moore)
Girlesque by Sean Owens
SF Examiner February 13, 2001 (Joe Mader) "An audacious act of transcendence -- a demonstration of the various, mysterious aspects of love, and an illumination of the power of performance."
SF Gate.com February 14, 2001 (Karen McKevitt) "One of the best solo performances I've seen to date."
Fringe Festival Circuit
Proformink.com February 1, 2001 (Susan Hubbard)
Triptych by Michael Mace
SF Bay Guardian Janaury 31, 2001 (Robert Avila)
Cafe Depresso by Tom Vegh
Asian Week February 8, 2001 (Jenny Walty)
SF Bay Guardian January 31, 2001 (Brad Rosenstein)
Bay Area Reporter January 31, 2001 (Richard Dodds)
The Goddess Perlman Is Coming
SF Weekly January 24, 2001 (Lisa Hom) "A sultry diva who makes Sandra Bernhard look tame" -- SF Weekly
Whistleaires' Big Christmas Show
Oakland Tribune December 11, 2000 (Chad Jones)
Arrivals // Departures by Tania Katan and Daniele Nathanson
SF Weekly November 15, 2000 (Joe Mader)
Goldie Awards
SF Bay Guardian November 8, 2000
A Murder of Crows by Mac Wellman
SF Gate October 2000 (Karen McKevitt) "One of the best kept secrets in the black box community"
sfstation.com (Suzi Levi-Sanchez) "I recommend it to anyone looking for intellect, poetry and laughs."
SF Bay Guardian October 18, 2000 (Brad Rosenstein) "Maddening, incisive, random, and word drunk ... A
Murder of Crows is Wellman par excellence"
SF Weekly November 1, 2000 (Joe Mader)
SF Chronicle October 17, 2000 (Steve Winn)
Shocktoberfest!! 2000 by the Thrillpeddlers
SF Weekly October 25, 2000 (Joe Mader) "Never mind the Castro -- the best Halloween experience this year is at the Exit."
San Francisco Fringe Festival 2000
SF Weekly September 20, 2000 (Silke Tudor)
SF Examiner September 12, 2000 (Rob Hurwitt)
SF Weekly September 13, 2000 (Joe Mader & Michael Scott Moore)
SF Guardian September 13, 2000 (Brad Rosenstein)
SF Chronicle September 13, 2000 (Steve Winn)
The Rape Poems by Frances Driscoll
BackStage West June 25, 2000 (Kerry Reid)
The Lost Plays of Jacques du Bon Temps
SF Bay Guardian June 21, 2000 (Brad Rosenstein) "Amazingly prophetic ..."
Ladies & Gentlemen ... the Opposite Sex
Backstage West June 18, 2000 (Kerry Reid) "An engaging and worthwhile experiment in new writing"
Snake in the Basement by Liebe Wetzel and Lunatique Fantastique
SF Bay Guardian May 24, 2000 (Brad Rosenstein) -- "Don't miss this exceptional, intelligent, singular work."
Best of the Bay 2000 --
SF Weekly May 17, 2000 "The Busiest, Most Congenial Little Theater in Town"
Salvador Dali Talks to the Animals by Dan Carbone
SF Bay Guardian May 10, 2000 (Brad Rosenstein) "Takes You Places You've Never Been"
SF Weekly May 10, 2000 (Michael Scott Moore)
The Beard by Michael McClure
SF Weekly May 10, 2000 (Michael Scott Moore)
Speed-The-Plow by David Mamet
SF Weekly May 10, 2000 (Joe Mader)
Get Me Rodd Keith!! by Joshua Pollock
SF Weekly April 19, 2000 (Silke Tudor) House of Tudor Critic's Pick
SF Bay Guardian April 26, 2000 (Brad Rosenstein)
SF Weekly May 3, 2000 (Joe Mader)
Messenger#1 by Mark Jackson
BackStage West (Kerry Reid)
SF Weekly March 22, 2000 (Michael Scott Moore) "It's dark, damning, graceful, and funny as hell."
SF Bay Guardian March 15, 2000 (Brad Rosenstein)
SF Bay Guardian CRITIC'S PICK !!! March 8, 2000 (Cheryl Eddy)
THEATREWORK -- just published by Art Street Theatre (Mark Jackson)
Cat's-Paw by Mac Wellman
SF Weekly April 5, 2000 (Michael Scott Moore)
SF Bay Guardian 8 Days of the Week March 8, 2000 (Joshua Medsker)
Presto Pronto by Ken Prestininzi
SF Weekly April 5, 2000 (Michael Scott Moore)
SF Bay Guardian April 5, 2000 (Brad Rosenstein)
SF Bay Guardian 8 Days of the Week March 8, 2000 (Joshua Medsker)
The Caretaker by Harold Pinter
SF Weekly February 9, 2000 (Michael Scott Moore)
Metropolitan February 7, 2000 (Kerry Reid)
SF Bay Guardian January 26, 2000 (Dina Gachman)
Give Me Shelter by Wendy Weiner
SF Bay Guardian February 23, 2000 (Slyvia W. Chan)
San Francisco Arts Monthly February 2000 (Jean Schiffman)
Metropolitan February 7, 2000 (Kerry Reid)
SF Weekly Febraury 02, 2000 (Joe Mader)
SF Weekly January 26, 2000
SF Bay Guardian January 26, 2000 (Summi Kaipa)
Upstage/Downstage Awards for 1999 by Brad Rosenstein
SF Bay Guardian December 22, 1999
The Turn of the Screw by Jeffrey Hatcher
SF Weekly December 15, 1999 (Joe Mader)
Stealin' Home by Fred Newman
SF Bay Guardian November 17, 1999 (Slyvia W. Chan)
theater-express.com (Laura Chekow)
Shocktoberfest! by the Thrillpeddlers
SF Weekly November 3, 1999 (Silke Tudor)
Drowned by Mark Nishimura
SF Bay Guardian October 13, 1999 (Slyvia W. Chan)
1999 Bay Guardian Goldie Award
SF Bay Guardian September 22, 1999 (Brad Rosenstein)
Six Plays-en Short exploring lives inside- and after - the Middle East
SF Bay Guardian August 11, 1999 (Brad Rosenstein)
Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf ? by Edward Albee
SF Bay Guardian August 18, 1999 (Brad Rosenstein)
Wilhelm Reich in Hell by Robert Anton Wilson
SF Bay Guardian July 14, 1999 (Brad Rosenstein)
Glengarry Glen Ross by David Mamet
SF Bay TimesJuly 8, 1999 (Jeff Smith)
La Turista by Sam Shepard
sfgate.com July 7, 1999 (David Curran)
Problem Child by George F. Walker
SF Bay Guardian June 9, 1999 (Brad Rosenstein)
Bay Area Reporter May 27, 1999 (Deborah Peifer)
SF Weekly June 16, 1999 (Michael Scott Moore)
OARB June 11, 1999 (David Kashimba)
Pride by Myles Weber
Bay Area Reporter June 24, 1999 (Richard Dodds)
SF Bay Times June 24, 1999 (Gene Price)
sidewalk.com June 4, 1999 (Appolinaire Scherr)
SF Bay Guardian June 4, 1999 (Brad Rosenstein)
Female Transport by Steve Gooch
SF Bay Guardian May 26, 1999 (Elise Archias)
Best (3,000 Miles) Off-Broadway Theater
SF Weekly May 19, 1999 (Best of San Francisco 1999)
Like & Murder Cake by Diane di Prima
SF Bay Guardian May 12, 1999 (Brad Rosenstein)
sfgate.com (Apollinaire Scheer)
To The Dogs & The Dove by Djuna Barnes
SF Bay Guardian May 26, 1999 (Brad Rosenstein)
sfgate.com (Apollinaire Scheer)
The Sneeze by Anton Chekhov
SF Weekly April 29, 1999 (Michael Scott Moore)
Playing Juliet / Casting Othello by Caleen Sinette Jennings
SF Weekly April 21, 1999 (Michael Scott Moore)
Bang! by Mark Jackson March 5 - March 27, 1999
SF Weekly March 24, 1999 (Michael Scott Moore)
SF Bay Guardian March 10, 1999 (Brad Rosenstein)
Traitor to the Cause by Terri Kasch March 5 - April 3, 1999
SF Bay Guardian March 10, 1999 (Maureen Foley)