A Foodie’s Guide to One of North Austin’s Strip Malls

Searching for the American dream at the Spicewood / 183 Center

"...warm samosas. And against all odds, Capitol Ribbon and Toner of Austin is still in business...."

Nov. 24, 2023 Food Feature by Taylor Holland

Austin Playhouse Opens New Venue with Lowell Bartholomee’s Previews of Departing Attractions

You’ll laugh, you’ll cry, you’ll … possibly think of Walter Matthau?

"...the Invasion of the Body Snatchers from 1978 where Donald Sutherland’s got that Toni Home Permanent thing going on..."

Aug. 5, 2022 Arts Post by Wayne Alan Brenner

Review: Austin Playhouse’s The Catastrophist

Aptly timed return to the stage for a meditation on science and risk

"...but an encore to director and Austin Playhouse founder Don Toner's six decades of producing theatre. The company announced..."

April 1, 2022 Arts Feature by Ellen Daly

On the Stage, On the Screen: Austin's Theatres Embrace a Virtual Future

Ahead of Austin Playfest and the All Together Now! Revue, directors and producers discuss the challenges and potential they've found online

"...Somehow, Austin Playhouse Co-Producing Artistic Director Lara Toner Haddock has managed to get herself and her company..."

Nov. 12, 2021 Arts Feature by Richard Whittaker

Austin Playhouse's Holmes and Watson

The joy in this staging of Jeffrey Hatcher's play is seeing the good doctor deduce which of three Sherlocks is the real deal

"...much what we do, too. AP Producing Artistic Director Don Toner keeps the intermissionless show at a brisk clip,..."

Sept. 13, 2019 Arts Review by Robert Faires

Austin Playhouse's The Book of Will

Playwright Lauren Gunderson shows how the Bard’s works came to be collected in a story of devotion and loss

"...the least of which is fluid staging. Director Lara Toner Haddock's quick, purposeful blocking spurs sharp moments of physical..."

June 21, 2019 Arts Review by Trey Gutierrez

Austin Playhouse's The Mystery of Edwin Drood

This musical production makes for an effervescent alternative to that other Dickens holiday show

"...The play takes place in Victorian London, where a rowdy music hall theatre troupe is mounting..."

Nov. 30, 2018 Arts Review by Bob Abelman

Austin Playhouse's Shakespeare in Love

The Oscar-winning film makes a successful transition to the stage through Don Toner's marvelous production

"...delivery here lifted straight from the film – director Don Toner and assistant director Lara Toner Haddock apparently having..."

March 30, 2018 Arts Review by Shanon Weaver

In Memoriam: Ken Johnson

Remembering the versatile theatre artist, who died March 2

"...couple of seasons (with Austin Playhouse Producing Artistic Director Don Toner just down the road in Jackson), then chose..."

March 8, 2018 Arts Post by Robert Faires

Austin Playhouse’s The Immigrant

The company delivers a powerful and timely account of foreigners making a new home in the U.S.

"...his third outing with the script, Producing Artistic Director Don Toner clearly knows what he wants from the actors..."

Jan. 12, 2018 Arts Review by Shanon Weaver

Austin Playhouse’s Miss Bennet: Christmas at Pemberley

In its rush to be fun, the show fails to tap all the potential of this rom-com sequel to Pride and Prejudice

"...fanfic set at Christmas: grand slam. It also screams, "Don't take me too seriously!"..."

Dec. 15, 2017 Arts Review by Elizabeth Cobbe

Austin Playhouse’s Bloomsday

Steven Dietz’s rumination on a great love lost lacks some of the vivid passion it needs in this staging

"...and they each hit their marks. Yet ultimately, under Don Toner's direction, the production lacks the kind of vivid..."

Jan. 20, 2017 Arts Review by Elizabeth Cobbe

Baskerville at Austin Playhouse

Austin Playhouse's staging of the Sherlock Holmes farce generates enough laughter to fill an empty mall

"...Abandoned malls are full of mysteries, especially at twilight. Familiar..."

Dec. 16, 2016 Arts Review by T. Lynn Mikeska

Austin Playhouse's A Little Night Music

Wonderful musical numbers, strong voices highlight Austin Playhouse's A Little Night Music

"...a bit harder to swallow now, but Artistic Director Don Toner eschews agenda, embracing the story for its entertainment..."

June 24, 2016 Arts Review by Shanon Weaver

Star Turns

The nominees for the 2015-16 Austin Critics Table Awards

"...The Strangerer/Year of the Rooster Andrea Skola Summers, Skylight Don Toner, Disgraced..."

May 9, 2016 Arts Post by Robert Faires

The Explorers Club

Austin Playhouse's sublimely silly satire of Victorian pomposity ventures where other comedies fear to tread

"...With nearly flawless execution, Artistic Director Lara Toner Haddock brings us an evening of silly fun that..."

April 22, 2016 Arts Review by Shanon Weaver

Exploring the "Other"

Ben Wolfe on the risks of going native in The Explorers Club

"...the other productions’ photos, the guy’s obviously white. I don’t know what significance the playwright put on that. So..."

April 20, 2016 Arts Post by Shanon Weaver

Making Room to Play

Create Space Austin kicks off the drive to secure more performing venues in the city

"...Kathryn Rogers of Trouble Puppet Theater Company said, "I don't think my patrons want to drive to the very..."

April 15, 2016 Arts Feature by Elizabeth Cobbe

Satchel Paige and the Kansas City Swing

The script for this baseball play is a bit wobbly, but Austin Playhouse fields a strong production for the win

"...the play may be, Austin Playhouse Producing Artistic Director Don Toner focuses on its strengths and turns a bunt..."

Feb. 26, 2016 Arts Review by Shanon Weaver

Austin Playhouse's Disgraced

Ayad Akhtar's drama delivers a raw, powerful conversation about race without the usual distractions

"...Artistic Director Don Toner realizes that the play's the thing with Disgraced...."

Jan. 22, 2016 Arts Review by Shanon Weaver

Austin Playhouse's The Philadelphia Story

Don Toner's direction and a top-drawer cast make for a riotous evening in this version of Philip Barry's crisp comedy

"...keeps changing, the quality onstage remains consistent. Artistic Director Don Toner knows his audience, what they want, and exactly..."

Dec. 11, 2015 Arts Review by Shanon Weaver

Austin Playhouse's The Norwegians

C. Denby Swanson's comedy with nice hit men is a blast of cool fun, with a hint of danger just below the ice

"...of his own ex, Betty). The set by Mike Toner is perfectly proportioned: Tor and Gus' modest hideout (hunting..."

Oct. 30, 2015 Arts Review by Shanon Weaver

C. Denby Swanson's The Norwegians

The Austin playwright's comedy about polite Minnesota hit men finally opens at home after hit runs in NYC and Ohio

"...including a half-dozen in Ohio alone ("Why Ohio? I don't know. I'm big in Ohio."). And all the while,..."

Oct. 23, 2015 Arts Feature by Rosalind Faires

Austin Playhouse's The Real Thing

Tom Stoppard's play receives a remarkable revival with a seasoned cast

"...from location to location on a set by Mike Toner, beautifully deceitful in its intricate simplicity. Several rotating walls..."

Sept. 25, 2015 Arts Review by Shanon Weaver

Victory Recycled

Ecology Action leaves Ninth Street

"...well as household recyclables from Travis County residents who don't have curbside collection service. But the volume, particularly from..."

June 5, 2015 News Feature by Robyn Ross

She Stoops to Conquer

Austin Playhouse brought out the impudence of this comedy of manners through a shared vision of sincere simplicity

"...Lara Toner-Haddock and Don Toner teamed up to provide solid direction...."

March 13, 2015 Arts Review by Adam Roberts

Actors' Inequity

The Cost of Art IV: The artists onstage in Austin aren't just not paid what they're worth, many aren't paid at all

"...Flash forward 30 years. I've done more than 65 productions since then and been paid..."

Jan. 23, 2015 Arts Feature by Katherine Catmull

The Mountaintop

Katori Hall's drama probes Martin Luther King Jr.'s mortality and legacy on the last night of his life

"...staging, under the steady hand of Producing Artistic Director Don Toner, Marc Pouhé conveys them with such earthy gusto..."

Jan. 16, 2015 Arts Review by Robert Faires

Time Stands Still

Austin Playhouse finds the raw pain in this drama of a photojournalist wounded in the Iraq War

"...Time Stands Still, the 2009 play by Pulitzer winner Donald Margulies, is a meta one since it centers on..."

Oct. 10, 2014 Arts Review by Adam Roberts

The Foreigner

Austin Playhouse does right by this popular American comedy, mining all the laughs and also making its point

"...its treatment of Larry Shue's comedy is no exception. Don Toner's excellent direction smartly treads the tightrope of farce:..."

June 6, 2014 Arts Review by Adam Roberts

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