Austin Shakespeare

Central Texas is very fortunate to have Austin Shakespeare — what I like most about it as an organization, is that it is very tied in to the community and truly serves its audiences through performance, and outreach. There are numerous opportunities for getting involved (Shakespeare readings *free*), volunteering, a ‘Young Shakespeare’ program — which is wonderful. The Young Shakespeare kids go through what an actual professional rehearsal and performance schedule would be like, and they perform at the Curtain Theatre, which is an exact replica of an Elizabethan Theatre — it’s stunning!
The quality of the productions, directing and acting are top-​notch — with professional casts and crew. Truly worth checking out a– and coming back for.

I saw Austin Shakespeare’s productions of Romeo and Juliet, and Othello, and was disappointed by both. I find Austin Shakespeare’s approach to be very heavy handed, colorless, wooden, and traditional to the point of caricature. The vast majority of characters all appear to be speaking their lines in a wooden manner, without thought for the meaning of their lines, nor the intention that their lines should effect on their fellow actors and the audience. The staging and predictable spatial relationship of actors are boring. For those seeking a watered down production of Shakespeare that is highly traditional, without care for great acting or the deeper meaning of Shakespeare’s verse, you may still pass the time effectively, by sleeping, and wake up in time to go home. I can tell you that Austin Shakespeare’s shows would be laughed off the stage in NYC or Chicago.
Another experience :
From myself and other actors that I know in the community: Austin Shakespeare does not inform actors when they are not cast in a production. Even actors who are called back to read for characters, repeatedly giving their time to audition, are not informed of the production’s decision if they are not cast. They have repeatedly given a part of their day to Austin Shakespeare, but this organization can not in turn honor them by providing an email? I find this highly unprofessional, and without honor for the actors and actresses efforts in the community, especially given the status of Austin Shakespeare as a publicly funded organization.
Was the above review of Romeo and Juliet and Othello colored at all by my experience auditioning? Yes, to the extent that I have made the effort to provide this review. However, certainly not, in regards to the review’s critical analysis, opinions which I have given to other Austinites long before my audition experience.
Notice that the director of Austin Shakespeare, Ann Ciccolella, was the first reviewer for this Unilocal page, however she does not state that she not only works for Austin Shakespeare, but is the director!

Last night we attended the opening show for the production of: The Belle of Amherst at the Rollins Studio Theater of the Long Center.
From the New York City stage comes the acclaimed actress Helen Merino who stars in a one-​woman show about Emily Dickinson. This has to be the best show yet, from staging, sound and lighting to the performance of Ms. Merino. This production and Ms. Merino’s performance will rival any theater in New York, London or Mexico top stages. Fabulous is an understatement.
The dialogue was complicated but they managed quite successfully to weave into the dialogue Emily Dickinson’s life stories and her poems. Ms. Merino’s performance was amazing… she was able with vocal intonation, facial expressions and body language take you from smiling and laughing one moment to crying the next as we followed Emily with her life story. The show didn’t linger nor was slow… on the contrary it kept you engaged and even a bit curious as to what was coming next.
A must see if you are looking for some quality acting and overall theater production!

I got to see the Austin Shakespeare production of Design for Living at the Rollins Theater at the Long Center and it was a complete delight. I hadn’t been to see a play in a while outside of the free Zilker performances (also by Austin Shakespeare), but this performance whet my appetite again for live theatre.
The performers are real artists, and they made the best of the sparse stage decoration and the small theater. Martin Burke and Helen Merino made me laugh so hard. Michael Miller and Michael Dalmon were genius as Otto and Ernest.

A HUGE thank you to Kelly and the Long Center AND Austin Shakespeare for tickets to the opening of «Pride and Prejudice»!
I must say, I’m very much a novice when it comes to live theater performances. My girlfriends says it’s just because I don’t appreciate art… That may or may not be true.
However, Pride and Prejudice served for a wonderful date night! It gave my girlfriend and me the chance to wear real clothes and spend an evening together feeling all sophisticated while we watched a spectacular play!
Pride and Prejudice is centered around a bunch of wannabe love stories. The Bennett family has five daughters, and Mrs. Bennett can’t WAIT to get rid of them all. Throughout the play, multiple potential suitors come out of the woodwork, and one-​by-​one, they are seen to have vital character flaws that keeps the Bennett daughters from marrying them.
The Austin Shakespeare group and the cast of Pride and Prejudice did a wonderful job being animated and engaging and just a lot of fun. The audience and I laughed numerous times at the jokes and insinuations put forth by the cast. You couldn’t even tell that it was opening night!
Despite the two and a half hour long showing, the cast never tired out, being full of energy and excitement for the duration of the play.
Hats off to a wonderful cast and crew and here’s hoping to a great time showing at the Long Center!

Thanks to Kelly, I obtained two tickets to the opening night of «Pride and Prejudice» with Austin Shakespeare performing at the Long Center.
I’m not one for plays, nor am I a guy who’d willingly watch a 2+ hour play, especially considering how I’d be competing against Mr. Darcy for my girlfriend.
However, I was pleasantly surprised by the production. The actress who played Eliza Bennett was killer and played the role well. The play did run for 2.5 hours, but it didn’t really feel that way. The play was humorous and high energy, and the cast oozed with enthusiasm and excitement, especially because it was the opening night. I followed the story pretty well, and even if I didn’t watch the movie, I thought AS did a great job of telling the story of Mr. Darcy and Eliza Bennet with tact, humor, and clarity.
In the altered words of Mr. Darcy, «Austin Shakespeare, I love you. Most ardently. Please do me the honor of taking my 5 star review.»

I saw Austin Shakespeare’s production of Twelfth Night «Bollywood style» at Zilker last night, and it made me appreciate talented thespians. Not only do they have to memorize dialogue that is not in the vernacular, they have to deliver it in a fluid way and also try to translate it to the audience using body language. Also they had to learn how to dance in a different style for the dance numbers.
I’m glad I had read the play in high school but I think if you hadn’t read the play it would be easy to grasp the plot. There were some truly talented actors in this company, and I look forward to more Shakespeare In The Park productions from them.

I’ve been to many of their productions over the years and they’ve always been at least good. «Mary Stuart» was legendary. Shakespeare is in the company name, but they don’t limit themselves to to only the bars’s plays. It’s worth keeping an eye on their schedule.

Shakespeare is generally better suited for translators than for actors. I very, very rarely attend Shakespearean productions, simply because, in the words of the Barenaked Ladies: «It’s all been done.»
& I could be wrong about Austin Shakespeare. Having only seen their performances of Ayn Rand’s «The Anthem» & George Bernard Shaw’s «Man & Superman,» I’ve not yet been exposed to their Shakespeare. But those two productions matched each other in clarity, humor, beauty, intrigue & enthusiasm. They’ve become one of the very few theatrical companies in Austin which I will not second-​guess attending.
Let’s put it this way: If my father were murdered & my partner insane, but Austin Shakespeare was presenting «Hamlet» that night, I’d still attend.
Yes. They’re that good.