News

Previews and Reviews:
The Rogue Theatre in the Press

This is an exciting time for the Rogue!

Our new address is 300 East University Boulevard
in The Historic Y
see map

Perhaps you’ll want to become a
Founding Member of the New Rogue Theatre
and win a place on our wall and in our hearts.
For details, see our Donate Now page.

Announcing Our 2009–2010 Season

Orwell. Albee. Wilder. Beckett. Shakespeare.

Click here to learn more about our season

Season ticket packages now on sale
See the Tickets page for more information

May, 2009:

On Sunday, May 3, The Rogue Theatre threw an Open House to celebrate moving into our permanent home on May 1st. This summer, we are converting the auditorium/gymnasium of The Historic Y, known previously as The Historic Y Hall, into a theatre, having committed to a five-year lease on the space. Over two hundred people turned out Sunday afternoon to mingle with Rogue actors and Board members, enjoy Ophelia’s Variety Hour, learn about our next season, and get a preview of how the renovated space will look. A big thank you to old friends and new friends who joined us to celebrate!

April, 2009:

Plays After Dark: Two new late-night theater efforts follow in the footsteps of LTW’s successful Etcetera series

Report on The Now Theatre and LNT @ The Alley by James Reel in the April 2 Tucson Weekly

March, 2009:

Shakespeare’s women

Video interview with Immortal Longings author/director Joseph McGrath by Sooyeon Lee on KUAT TV’s March 31 Arizona Illustrated

A Teen’s Trial: A group of Shakespearean women gather to decide the fate of Juliet in the wonderful Immortal Longings

Reviews of Immortal Longings and This Property is Condemned by James Reel in the March 26 Tucson Weekly

One-act This Property is Condemned packs a wallop

Review of This Property is Condemned by Chuck Graham in the March 26 Tucson Citizen

Juliet doesn't want to die!

Previews of Immortal Longings and This Property is Condemned by Kathleen Allen in the March 13 Arizona Daily Star

January, 2009:

Strong cast led by Gallagher makes this a must-see

Review of Orlando by Kathleen Allen in the January 30 Arizona Daily Star

Production of Albee play is straightforward, as it should be

Review of The Zoo Story by Kathleen Allen in the January 30 Arizona Daily Star

Orlando Blooms

Review of Orlando by Gene Armstrong in the January 29 Tucson Weekly

Primal Zoo: The Now Theatre offers up a tragic Edward Albee tale of class warfare

Review of The Zoo Story by Gene Armstrong in the January 29 Tucson Weekly

Comedy is king—and queen —in production of Woolf's Orlando

Review of Orlando by Chuck Graham in the January 29 Tucson Citizen

Sparks fly when a have-not lashes out

Review of The Zoo Story by Chuck Graham in the January 29 Tucson Citizen

Whimsical Woolf work to be staged

Preview of Orlando by Kathleen Allen in the January 16 Arizona Daily Star

The Goat A Mac Award Favorite!

The January 2008 Rogue Theatre production of Edward Albee’s The Goat garnered three Macs and one nomination in the Arizona Daily Star’s 2008 Mac Awards. Theater reviewer Kathleen Allen writes:

• Winner of Best Drama: “Directed by David Morden, the production was a fierce one, full of the passion and anger and love that Albee intended.”
• Nomination for Best Actor in a Comedy or Drama: Joseph McGrath “was particularly effective as Martin, a married architect who falls for a goat.”
• Winner of Best Actress in a Comedy or Drama: “Cynthia Meier...was powerful and smart and so wounded by the deep betrayal that it was impossible not to be moved by her.”
• Winner of Best Director of a Comedy or Drama: “David Morden’s direction...showed a deep understanding of the material, and he used a deft hand in order to give the audience that same insight.”

A year ago, The Rogue won the Mac for Best Play with its January 2007 production of Genet’s The Maids, with nominations of Cynthia Meier and Susan Arnold for for Best Actress and Joseph McGrath for Best Director.

October, 2008:

Happy Days is here again

Preview of Happy Days by Kathleen Allen in the October 31 Arizona Daily Star

September, 2008:

Apt challenge for audience: Rogue Theatre, Six Characters mesh

Review of Six Characters in Search of an Author by Kathleen Allen in the September 26 Arizona Daily Star

Silence speaks volumes in this staging

Review of Cigarettes and Chocolate by Kathleen Allen in the September 26 Arizona Daily Star

Winner of the Tucson Weekly’s Best of Tucson 2008

The January 2008 Rogue Theatre production of Albee’s The Goat was selected by the Tucson Weekly in the category of Best Theatrical Bestiality: “Loud, intense and emotionally realistic, Rogue’s production of Edward Albee’s play about a married man who has sex with a goat gradually twisted its initial whimsy into an evening throbbing with loneliness and rage, thanks to director David Morden and lead actors J. Andrew McGrath and Cynthia Meier. What began with witty sophistication descended into brutal primitivism by play’s end, in an overwhelming production by a courageous little company.”

Characters in Abundance

Review of Six Characters in Search of an Author by James Reel in the September 25 Tucson Weekly

Six Characters, One Chance to Live

Preview of Six Characters in Search of an Author by Kathleen Allen in the September 19 Arizona Daily Star

Ambitious UA Grad's Now Theatre to Debut

Preview of Cigarettes and Chocolate by Kathleen Allen in the September 19 Arizona Daily Star

June, 2008:

Season Four announced! See the Our Season page for details.

April, 2008:

The Rogue Theatre’s production of Happy Days will be presented at the Climate Theatre of San Francisco April 25–27, 2008. Contact the Climate Theatre for performance times and online ticket purchases. Also, you can now view production photos by Tim Fuller.

March, 2008:

Red Noses: Mocking Authority, Avoiding Despair

Preview of Red Noses by Kathleen Allen in the March 21 Arizona Daily Star

February, 2008:

Going Down Singing

Preview of Happy Days by James Reel in the February 7 Tucson Weekly

Gallagher gets ‘Happy’

Preview of Happy Days by Chuck Graham in the February 7 Tucson Citizen

Amid the bleak, a ray of hope

Preview of Happy Days by Kathleen Allen in the February 8 Arizona Daily Star

January, 2008:

Destruction of Innocence

Review of The Goat by James Reel in the January 10 Tucson Weekly

Albee’s Goat tackles taboos left and right

Review of The Goat by Kathleen Allen in the January 11 Arizona Daily Star

Play uncovers the struggles behind unconventional love

Review of The Goat by Chuck Graham in the January 10 Tucson Citizen — Grade: A+

Winner of the Arionza Daily Star Mac Award

The January 2007 Rogue Theatre production of Genet’s The Maids was a favorite of the Arizona Daily Star and its 2007 Mac Awards. In the running for Best Actress were Cynthia Meier and Susan Arnold, “two sisters who are bitter maids to a haughty mistress. They were disturbing, they were touching, and they were very effective.” As a contender in the category of Best Director, the Star credits Joseph McGrath with directing “a smooth, tense version of The Maids.” But in the category of Best Play, The Maids came out the winner: “The compelling and horrifying story was cleanly directed by Joseph McGrath and powerfully performed by a trio of actresses [Cynthia Meier, Susan Arnold and Arlene Naughton]. It was fulfilling and challenging theater.”

December, 2007:

Add Tony-winning play to your 2008 to-do list

Preview of The Goat by Sherilyn Forrester in the December 28 Arizona Daily Star

November, 2007:

Preview of The Goat, or Who is Sylvia?

by Iris J. Arnesen, from the November, 2007 The Opera Glass
   In any given human culture, certain behaviors will be considered proper and admirable while others will be considered improper and disgusting. Travel some distance away, however, and the people of the second area will likely hold very different opinions. Which group is right, and which is wrong? Are there any absolutes? Or is it as one of Shakespeare’s characters put it: “There’s nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so”?
Read the full Preview

All Souls Procession

The Big Head Puppets of the three gods from The Rogue Theatre’s production of The Good Woman of Setzuan appeared in the All Souls Procession on Sunday, November 4.

Puppet design by Matt Cotten, Tucson Puppet Works

Photo by Thomas Wentzel

September, 2007:

Interview

Directors Joseph McGrath and Cynthia Meier are interviewed by Iris J. Arenesen in a 4-page article in the September 2007 The Opera Glass. They discuss their meeting, the formation of The Rogue Theatre, their experiences as actors, their plans for The Rogue, and the upcoming production of Edward Albee’s The Goat, or Who is Sylvia?

Dying Way of Life: The Rogue Theatre treats Chekhov’s Cherry Orchard as the classic that it is

Review by James Reel in the September 13 Tucson Weekly

Chekhov play timely and worth checking out

Review by Chuck Grahm in the September 13 Tucson Citizen

Humor Included

Preview by Kathleen Allen in the August 31 Arizona Daily Star

August, 2007:

Mask as Meeting Place

On August 11, Dr. Patty Gallagher, Artist-in-Residence of The Rogue Theatre, presented a workshop on the use of masks in the theatre utilizing 48 masks she has gathered throughout the world. With an eclectic background in clowning, Balinese dance, and Shakespearean drama, Dr. Gallagher has joined the Rogue Theatre this year as a performer and teacher. The free public workshop was attended by over 50 people.

Cast members of The Cherry Orchard wearing masks appropriate to ther characters

Kenton Jones, Joseph McGrath and Patty Gallagher display masks

Photos by Cynthia Meier

July, 2007:

We have had another successful round of grant writing, to assist in funding our Season Three activities. We have just received notification that we have been awarded $5,092 from Tucson Pima Arts Council and $10,395 from the Arizona Commission on the Arts. Part of what the Arizona Commission grant will fund is an educational supplement on The Voice of the American Playwright, to be used in conjunction with our production of The Goat, or Who is Sylvia? Patrick Baliani, a faculty member at the UA English Department, will assist in its preparation.

June, 2007:

Season Three announced! Click here for details.

December, 2006:

Rogue Theatre productions are listed in the Tucson Citizen’s Year in Review: Tucson Happenings in 2006 and the Arizona Daily Star’s 2006 Mac Awards. As a contender in the category of Best Actor, the Star credits Joseph McGrath with “an honest and convincing portrayal” in the one-man The Fever by Wallace Shawn, directed by Cynthia Meier. The Citizen reports that Cynthia Meier’s adaptation and direction of James Joyce’s short story The Dead was a highlight of Tucson entertainment in 2006, showing “the magical transformative power of theater.” The poignant climatic scene between Gabriel and Gretta Conroy, as portrayed by Joseph McGrath and Amy Almquist, is given special mention.

September, 2006:

Best Act of Theatrical Piracy

The Dead makes the September 28, 2006 Tucson Weekly’s Best of Tucson Staff Picks in the Arts and Culture category. To read all about it, follow this link.

The Rogue Theatre is happy to announce that we have been awarded an unrestricted grant of $1000 from the Community Foundation for Southern Arizona as a result of our application submitted for consideration during the 2006–2007 Endowment for the Arts grant round. The grants panel expresses the hope that during the coming year, these funds will be used to develop audience and foster other activities that will build our organization’s infrastructure leading to greater self-sufficiency.

August, 2006:

Dr. Patty Gallagher, international theatre artist, joined The Rogue Theatre, August 8–12th, for exciting workshops on mask, clowning, and character development during rehearsals for the upcoming production of Endymion. As part of her residency, she also presented a free public workshop on August 12th. Dr. Gallagher’s residency was partially funded by a Sudden Opportunity Grant from the Arizona Commission on the Arts.

Also, The Rogue Theatre has gratefully received grants from the Arizona Commission on the Arts and Tucson Pima Arts Council totaling $8,500 for 2006–2007.

May, 2006:

Theater Blooms

Calendar Cover Story by Chuck Graham in the May 18, 2006 Tucson Citizen