Eastward (S)ho(w)!

The soon-to-be-built play! Theatre adds a seventh performing arts venue east of the interstate

"...was a lonely outpost for a theatre. When the Vortex Repertory Company reclaimed an old metal barn on Manor..."

July 2, 2004 Arts Feature by Robert Faires

Arts Bullets

It's Edinburgh for 'Bolero,' the Big Apple for 'Flawed' and 'St. Enid,' and AMOA for PR guy David Wyatt

"...Black Hand read in NYC next week by Obie-Award-winning company Clubbed Thumb. It's part of this year's Summerworks festival,..."

June 18, 2004 Arts Feature by Robert Faires

Arts Bullets

Physical Plant Theater's first Garden Party raised more than $8,000, Ann Hume Wilson has been appointed associate director of the Blanton Museum of Art, Blue Lapis Light is exhibiting – and auctioning off – bras and breastplates for angels, and the city unveils a new mural at the Pan Am / A.B. Cantu Recreation Center

"...raised more than double the funds that the 10-year-old company expected: over $8,000, which will go toward its first..."

June 4, 2004 Arts Feature

Ghost From a Perfect Place

Blending eerie reminiscence and the trappings of outright hostility, Vortex Repertory Company production of Ghost From a Perfect Place feels as if it ought to be more provocative than it is

"...The Vortex, through May 30..."

May 14, 2004 Arts Review by Robi Polgar

Austin Critics Table Nominations, 2003-2004

The full list of nominations for the 2003-2004 Austin Critics Table Awards, recognizing outstanding achievements in local theatre, dance, classical music, and visual art

"...The Woman in Black, State Theater Company..."

May 14, 2004 Arts Feature by Robert Faires

Dark Goddess 2004

Director Bonnie Cullum makes a point of pulling you out of the modern world for Dark Goddess 2004 so you might be more receptive to its mythic message of the power of transformation

"...Dark Goddess 2004The Vortex, through March 28..."

March 12, 2004 Arts Review by Robert Faires

Not Just Another Pretty Face

With the Naughty Austin theatre company, there's more than meets the eye.

"...receiving its local premiere from the Naughty Austin theatre company. The show sends up old-school beauty ... er, scholarship..."

Nov. 28, 2003 Arts Feature by Robert Faires

Coriolanus

Lorella Loftus' staging of Coriolanus at the Vortex doesn't succeed in making Shakespeare's hero truly tragic or noble, but its fierceness of imagination and commitment would do the Roman general proud.

"...CoriolanusThe Vortex, through Nov. 30, Running time: 2 hrs., 10 min...."

Nov. 28, 2003 Arts Review by Robert Faires

The Black Tower

In The Black Tower, the experimental performance company ethos creates another theatrical museum through which audiences may examine living dioramas populated by Greek gods engaged in struggles with each other as old as the human race.

"...The Yard at the Vortex, through April 26..."

April 25, 2003 Arts Review by Robert Faires

The Scarlet Letter

The Vortex Repertory Company's retelling of Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter feels like it's coming from a fitful, troubled sleep, a hazy dreamscape in which director Michelle Fowler and her cast create a society of suffocating morality and the cruel reprisals that await any who violate its rigid rules of conduct.

"...The Vortex, through March 29..."

March 21, 2003 Arts Review by Robert Faires

Articulations

Comedy venues the Velveeta Room and Capital City Comedy Club get new leases on life, solo theatre artist Rob Nash gets roasted, and Dreamgirl Jennifer Holliday comes to Austin.

"...take the stage to talk ... about him. The Vortex Repertory Company is roasting Rob, with folks such as..."

Feb. 21, 2003 Arts Column by Robert Faires

Unkindest Cuts of All

A snapshot of the impact that this year's 31% cut in Cultural Contract funding had on 10 Austin arts companies that were on a strong growth track and had that growth in city funding abruptly reversed.

"...to what they were three or more years previous. Company, FY 2000, FY 2001, FY 2002, FY 2003, Amt..."

Feb. 7, 2003 Arts Feature by Robert Faires

Holy Well, Sacred Flame

Irish mythology is littered with conflicts more dramatic than the material for Holy Well, Sacred Flame. Still, writer-director Bonnie Cullum makes a unique rite from sincerity, sensuousness, and outlandish vision.

"...Holy Well, Sacred Flame: Spring Down Memory LaneThe Vortex, through Feb. 2..."

Jan. 17, 2003 Arts Review by Rob Curran

The Way We Were

On the eve of his move to New York City, playwright and Austin Script Works Artistic Director John Walch reflects on the development of Austin's theatre scene during his time here.

"...have a home, and now it's the State Theater Company and part of Austin Theatre Alliance...."

Dec. 13, 2002 Arts Feature by Molly Beth Brenner

Medea

Playwright Liz Lochhead brings Euripides' tale of Medea and her hideous yet compelling vengeance into the present day, but delivers a surprisingly staid and familiar rendition of the tragedy, and while the this Vortex Repertory Company production offers some striking dramatic tableaux, it suffers from pacing problems, a lack of dramatic tension, and little effective storytelling.

"...Medea: If Looks Could Kill --The Vortex, through Nov. 30..."

Nov. 29, 2002 Arts Review by Robi Polgar

Articulations

The winners are in for the 28th annual B. Iden Payne Awards, honoring outstanding achievements in Austin theatre from August 2001 through July 2002.

"...hours of honors and exceedingly brief thank-you speeches. The Vortex Repertory Company dominated the win column with eight awards..."

Oct. 4, 2002 Arts Column by Robert Faires

Heart Attack & Fine

Actor Douglas Taylor is alive (again) and well in Austin, Texas

"...-- that's Austin, Texas. That's Script Works, that's the Vortex, Hyde Park Theatre, the Blue Theater, the Rude Mechs..."

Sept. 20, 2002 Arts Feature by Wayne Alan Brenner

Payne the Town Red

What might be considered the theatrical fringe in other cities is more and more the theatrical mainstream in Austin, an idea that was reinforced with the announcement of the nominations for the 2001-02 B. Iden Payne Theatre Awards.

"...in the course of developing his daring, iconoclastic theatre company...."

Aug. 30, 2002 Arts Feature by Robert Faires

Moby Dick

In Kirk Smith's stage adaptation of Moby Dick, language comes forth in great waves, in storms of words, soaking our brains with images of the sea, of a white whale, and of a mad captain's pursuit of it, and while the Vortex Repertory Company Summer Youth Theatre production may not always convey every nuance of every line, it does communicate the feel of a life at sea, danger and dread, and the roles played by Destiny and Death.

"...The Vortex,..."

July 26, 2002 Arts Review by Robert Faires

Moby's Play

Playwright Kirk Smith talks about trying to squeeze a great white whale into a tiny theatre with his adaptation of Moby Dick for Vortex Repertory Company's Summer Youth Theatre.

"...Paris without ever leaving the cozy theatre of the Vortex. In 1997, Smith crafted that adaptation for Vortex Repertory..."

July 19, 2002 Arts Feature by Robert Faires

Invasion of the Kiddie-Lit Plays

Characters from children's literature storm Austin-area stages in July.

"...the Owl, and the Calico Cat The Pollyanna Theatre Company makes its debut with playwright Emily Cicchini's adaptation of..."

July 5, 2002 Arts Feature by Robert Faires

Articulations

Austin loses a longtime artist, Mickey Joe Mayfield, and Vortex Repertory Company gains a managing director, Barry Pineo.

"...attending school there, painting sets for the Boston Opera Company -- most of his time after the STOMP years..."

May 31, 2002 Arts Column by Robert Faires

The Music of Erica Zann

Vortex Repertory Company's The Music of Erica Zann brings H.P. Lovecraft's "The Music of Erich Zann" to the stage as a chamber opera, and the result is a fever dream, a hallucinatory state in which you're overwhelmed by strange visions and a palpable sense of anxiety and apprehension.

"...The Music of Erica Zann: That Way Lies MadnessThe Vortex,..."

May 31, 2002 Arts Review by Robert Faires

More Places at the Table

The Austin Critics Table is about to hand out its annual awards for achievement in the arts for the 10th year, and the list of nominees is longer than ever.

"...The Medea Stories, J. Ed Araiza & Medea company..."

May 24, 2002 Arts Feature by Robert Faires

To Infinity and Beyond!

The year 2001 saw a host of local cultural types taking journeys beyond their homes, traveling to other communities to share their art and finding new venues locally in which to produce their work and expand their creative sensibilities.

"...town by storm with their adaptation of Lipstick Traces; Vortex Repertory Company won more than a few hearts with..."

Jan. 4, 2002 Arts Feature by Robert Faires

Articulations

Memorializing The Public Domain Theatre Company, 1993-2001

"...running it because, well, the passing of a theatre company isn't quite as timely as some other news, and..."

Nov. 2, 2001 Arts Column by Robert Faires

Playwright as Architect

In a conversation on art and craft, playwrights Dan Dietz and Wayne Alan Brenner discuss making the blueprints for and building a drama.

"...-- often with the support of Salvage Vanguard, the company of which he (along with founder Jason Neulander) is..."

Oct. 26, 2001 Arts Feature by Wayne Alan Brenner

Shopping and Fucking

From the first stomach-turning minute, audiences for the Vortex Repertory Company production of Shopping and Fucking are in for a rough ride; they're witness to the horrible depths to which its characters have sunk and the desperation with which they try to claw their way out.

"...Shopping and Fucking: Coitus An' Corruptus The Vortex, through November 3..."

Oct. 26, 2001 Arts Review by Wayne Alan Brenner

Articulations

Oklahoma!, A Macbeth, and Art were the big winners at the 27th Annual B. Iden Payne Awards.

"...Well, in a dramatic switch from last year, when VORTEX Repertory Company, dirigo group, and Frontera@Hyde Park Theatre dominated..."

Sept. 28, 2001 Arts Column by Robert Faires

Most Valuable Players

A Guide to Austin Stage Actors

"...MVP for: Vortex Repertory Company..."

Sept. 28, 2001 Arts Feature

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