The Rogue Theatre in the Press

Krapp’s Last Tape, Not I and Act Without Words, February–March, 2010:

Beckett á trois at Rogue Theatre
A trio of thought-provoking plays from the master of the absurd

Review of Krapp’s Last Tape, Not I and Act Without Words by Dave Irwin posted March 4 on TucsonSentinel.com

Futility oozes from Rogue's powerful set
3 short plays deliver bleak Beckett

Review of Krapp’s Last Tape, Not I and Act Without Words by Kathleen Allen in the March 5 Arizona Daily Star

Hard-Core Art: Rogue tackles three challenging one-acts by Irish playwright Beckett

Review of Krapp’s Last Tape, Not I and Act Without Words by Nathan Christensen in the March 4 Tucson Weekly

Evening with Beckett beautiful but baffling

Review of Krapp’s Last Tape, Not I and Act Without Words by Heather Price-Wright in the March 3 Arizona Daily Wildcat

Fans of Beckett get a thoughtful meal at Rogue Theatre

Review of Krapp’s Last Tape, Not I and Act Without Words by Chuck Graham on February 28 in Let The Show Begin! at TucsonStage.com

Works of Irish playwright ‘are in a class of their own’
3 short plays by Samuel Beckett due at the Rogue

Preview of Krapp’s Last Tape, Not I and Act Without Words by Kathleen Allen in the February 26 Arizona Daily Star

Our Town, January, 2010:

Food for thought fills Our Town at Rogue Theatre

Review of Our Town by Chuck Graham on January 12 in Let The Show Begin! at TucsonStage.com

Our Town populated with meaning
Rogue Theatre to stage classic about local lives, universal context

Preview of Our Town by Kathleen Allen in the January 1 Arizona Daily Star

January, 2010:

2009 Mac Awards

The Rogue Theatre received several accolades in the Arizona Daily Star’s 2009 Mac Awards. Theater reviewer Kathleen Allen writes:

• Winner of Best Actor: “Joseph McGrath gave depth and nuance to the ineffectual Tobias in Rogue’s Delicate Balance. It’s a difficult role because the character has a deep, troubled inner life. McGrath did it full justice, and then some.”
  
• Nomination for Best Drama: “Rogue Theatre, which is quickly establishing a reputation as a company that rarely misses, staged a lovely (and most difficult to do) Orlando and an almost breathtaking presentation of A Delicate Balance.
  
• Nomination for Best Actress: Patty Gallagher gracefully transitioned from an Elizabethan Romeo to a Victorian maid in Rogue’s Orlando.
  
• Nomination for Best Director: David Morden showed a deep understanding of Edward Albee with his direction of A Delicate Balance.

A Delicate Balance and Some Girl(s), November, 2009:

Some Girl(s) is sexy, cynical late night theater

Review of Some Girl(s) by Anna Swenson in the November 18 Arizona Daily Wildcat

Rogue’s Albee is disturbing theater but awfully good

Review of A Delicate Balance by Kathleen Allen in the November 13 Arizona Daily Star

Now’s Some Girl(s) is some show

Review of Some Girl(s) by Kathleen Allen in the November 13 Arizona Daily Star

Tipping Point: Edward Albee’s brilliant language stars in the disturbing Delicate Balance at Rogue

Review of A Delicate Balance by Sherilyn Forrester in the November 12 Tucson Weekly

Captivating Drama in A Delicate Balance at The Rogue Theatre

Review of A Delicate Balance by Chuck Graham on November 9 in Let The Show Begin! at TucsonStage.com

Rogue Theatre tackles ambitious plays

Previews of A Delicate Balance and Some Girl(s) by Anna Swenson in the November 4 Arizona Daily Wildcat

Albee’s characters thrive in Balance
Rogue Theatre stages famed playwright’s story of folks on a path of self-discovery

Previews of A Delicate Balance and Some Girl(s) by Kathleen Allen in the October 30 Arizona Daily Star

Animal Farm, September, 2009:

Animal Farm at Rogue Theatre designed to make audience think

Review of Animal Farm by Kathleen Allen in the September 18 Arizona Daily Star

Little Piggies: The challenging Animal Farm opens Rogue’s season in the troupe’s new space

Review of Animal Farm by Sherilyn Forrester in the September 17 Tucson Weekly

Rogue’s Animal Farm a chaotic barnyard of ambitious theater

Review of Animal Farm by Anna Swenson in the September 16 Arizona Daily Wildcat

Rogue’s new theatre is a hit! So is its Animal Farm!

Review of Animal Farm and our new theatre by Chuck Graham on September 12 in Let The Show Begin! at TucsonStage.com

Animal Farm shows an all--too-human face

Preview of Animal Farm by Kathleen Allen in the September 4 Arizona Daily Star

September, 2009:

Winner of the Tucson Weekly’s Best of Tucson 2009: Best Theatre News

Staff Pick: The Rogue Theatre’s New Home. “Now, one of Tucson’s smartest and most accomplished little companies has the home it deserves.” Read all about it here.

Quest for Rogue Theatre home over: Historic Y to house enterprising troupe

An article about our new theatre home by Rosalie Robles Crowe in the September 11 Arizona Daily Star

Immortal Longings and This Property is Condemned, March–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

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

Orlando and The Zoo Story, January–February, 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

January, 2009:

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.”

Happy Days, October–November, 2008:

Happy Days is here again

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

Six Characters in Search of an Author and Cigarettes and Chocolate, September–October, 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

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

September, 2008:

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.”

Red Noses, March–April, 2008:

Red Noses: Mocking Authority, Avoiding Despair

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

Happy Days, 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

The Goat, or Who is Sylvia?, 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+

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

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

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

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?

January, 2008:

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.”

The Cherry Orchard, September, 2007

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

The Good Woman of Setzuan, March–April, 2007

You Figure It Out: Rogue Theatre gives us plenty to mull over in The Good Woman of Setzuan

Review by James Reel in the April 5 Tucson Weekly

The Good Woman of Setzuan

2-page review by Iris J. Arnesen in the April, 2007 The Opera Glass
“The Rogue Theatre gave me a real gift with their exquisite production of
The Good Woman of Setzuan, and I will be eternally grateful for it.”

Good Woman is solid theater

Review by Kathleen Allen in the April 3 Arizona Daily Star

Rogue Theatre takes on Brecht

Preview by Sherilyn Forrester in the March 23 Arizona Daily Star

The Maids, January, 2007

The Maids

4-page review by Iris J. Arnesen in the March, 2007 The Opera Glass

Virtual Reality —Three excellent plays all deal with perception in entertaining ways

Review by James Reel in the January 25 Tucson Weekly

The Maids yet another Rogue Theatre winner

Review by Kathy Allen in the January 19 Arizona Daily Star

The Maids explores chance to kill from every angle

Review by Chuck Graham in the January 18 Tucson Citizen

The Maids

Preview by Sherilyn Forrester in the January 5 Arizona Daily Star

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.

Endymion, September–October, 2006

Endymion

3-page review by Iris J. Arnesen in the Winter, 2006 The Opera Glass

Thing of Beauty

Review of Endymion by James Reel in the October 5 Tucson Weekly

Man’s atavism still comes through in modern Endymion

Review by Chuck Graham in the October 5 Tucson Citizen

Rogue Theatre’s Endymion an admirable effort

Review by Kathleen Allen in the October 3 Arizona Daily Star

Keats’ Endymion is now a play

Preview by Kathleen Allen in the September 22 Arizona Daily Star

May, 2006

Theater Blooms

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

The Dead, March–April, 2006

Best Act of Theatrical Piracy

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

Rogue brings Dead to life

Review by Chuck Graham in the March 30 Tucson Citizen

Our Living Duties: Rogue brings a superb short story to life with The Dead

Review by James Reel in the March 30 Tucson Weekly

Troupe to bring out The Dead

Preview by Sherilyn Forrester in the March 16 Arizona Daily Star

The Fever, January, 2006

The Fever

3-page review by Iris J. Arnesen in the Spring/Summer, 2006 The Opera Glass

One Man's Malady:
J. Andrew McGrath Excels as a Sick, Delirious Traveler in the One-Man, Intimate The Fever

Review by James Reel in the January 12 Tucson Weekly

One Man on Folding Chair Puts On Quite a Show

Review by Chuck Graham in the January 12 Tucson Citizen

Fever Rages with Worldly Inequities

Review by Kathleen Allen in the January 12 Arizona Daily Star

The Fever Breaks at Rogue Theatre

Preview by Kathleen Allen in the January 5 Arizona Daily Star

The Balcony, September–October, 2005

The Balcony

6-page review by Iris J. Arnesen in the Winter/Spring, 2006 The Opera Glass

Review by Kathleen Allen in the October 15 Arizona Daily Star

Preview by Chuck Graham in the October 6 Tucson Citizen

Preview by Kathleen Allen in the September 29 Arizona Daily Star