For anyone wondering what the true form and function of theater looks like, consider “Booth’s Richard III” at Austin Scottish Rite Theatre, playing for one more weekend on June 29 and 30. This performance of Colley Cibber’s “Richard III,” taken from the original script notes by American thespian turned villain, John Wilkes Booth, is unlike anything you’ll see this year.

Let me frame it for you. Beth Burns, Artistic Director of Hidden Room Theatre and the Master of Play, announces the show and briefly explains what you are about to see: lots of stage violence, melodrama, gesture acting, and hundreds of lines of Shakespeare. In short, maybe everything you hate about theater. And yet, she begs, there is one thing fundamental to bringing Shakespeare’s plays to life: you, the audience. [Read more…]

Theater director Lily Wolff’s career has rarely followed the traditional path. From her cosmopolitan upbringing, to her interest in Devised Theater, to her freelancing business plan, Wolff is carving out her own course in a city that appreciates unique trajectories.

Austin theater-goers are reaping the benefits of Wolff’s prolific talent. As she prepares for the opening of the second of three directed plays in 2018, I sat down with Wolff to learn more about her life, the Austin theater scene, and why the arts could benefit from our support. [Read more…]

When Elizabeth V. Newman and Stephanie Moore met, neither one anticipated founding a theatre company together. But all the hard work paid off and Austin-based Filigree Theater came to be. With Newman as Artistic Director and Moore as Managing Director, the women-led artistic group has produced several critically-acclaimed shows. Newman and Moore have worked diligently to shine light on Austin’s visual and performing arts that go beyond the music our city is known for. [Read more…]

Last year, Austin lost over 30,000 square feet of artistic performance space. Think about that for a second.

Austin is an artistic city. We have built a huge portion of our economy around it. The arts attract tourists and transplants, and businesses follow them here. The arts are the foundation for so much of what makes Austin the vibrant city that it is.

But the sad fact is that Austin has become a victim of its own success. As people and money flow into the city, the price of doing business here increases. Rent goes up, and creative hubs begin to shutter. We might not notice the immediate impact, but over time, the trend erodes a big part of what originally made Austin attractive and lucrative. Eventually, the rest of the food chain can suffer.

Rude Mechs is an Austin ensemble theater company standing against the [Read more…]