Sunday, June 30, 2013
Wednesday, June 26, 2013
Shadow puppet construction for 6IX CONFESSIONS
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| David Goodwin at ATL HQ |
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| Ruth Engel-McEntire and Kent Williams designing shadow puppets |
Monday, June 24, 2013
Friday, June 14, 2013
DINOSAUR AND ROBOT in TheaterJones.com
Trains, Ball-Change and Automobiles
Guns, too. The second set of shows at the Festival of Independent Theatres takes on heavy topics, light foot-action and two supercool characters.
by Kris Noteboom for TheaterJones.com, published Friday, June 14, 2013
DINOSAUR AND ROBOT STOP A TRAIN!! How is it even possible to see a play with that title and not excitedly yell it out like a 5-year-old might when asked to come up with the awesomest thing ever?
Let’s face it. FIT has been dominated by serious, heady, existential pieces this year.
John Michael gave audiences a delightful respite, but for the most part it’s been pretty heavy. Leave it to Brad McEntire, via his Audacity Theatre Lab, to lighten the mood a little as his ever-amazingly creative brain has brought forth unto the world Dinosaur and Robot Stop a Train.
It’s a super-simple setup. Dinosaur (Jeff Swearingen) and Robot (McEntire) have somehow been transported through time and space into a field where they subsequently save a stupid little girl from getting hit by a train. The play is the press conference held by Dinosaur and Robot as they attempt to explain their story.
With a combination of some pretty stellar physical humor, aided by the wonderfully creative costumes by Ruth Engel-McEntire, a bit of slapstick, satire, audience participation and vaudeville, DARSAT is a winner for all ages. It’s perfectly paced and when it’s over it feels all too soon.
Sure there isn’t really any deeper focus at play. This is a straightforward frivolity—which is pretty much what makes it so great. Because even though a general rule is that anything that’s good must have some sort of subtext, McEntire so thoroughly subverts that notion and distances himself from any inkling of commentary that he actually ends up creating something that’s more than some subliminal critique of the world. It’s the embrace of the inner child, the latent creativity present in everyone, the sense of wonder that is all too often forgotten. Dinosaur and Robot Stop a Train is the most essential iteration of fun. And that’s, well, fun.
◊ Dinosaur and Robot Stop a Train is performed in the following performance blocks: 8 p.m. Friday, June 14; 2 p.m. Saturday, June 15; 5 p.m. Saturday, June 22.
Wednesday, June 12, 2013
DINOSAUR AND ROBOT in the Dallas Observer
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| Brad McEntire and Jeff Swearingen in DINOSAUR AND ROBOT STOP A TRAIN at the 15th Annual Festival of Independent Theatres |
Start laughing now at Dinosaur and Robot Stop a Train at FIT
By ELAINE LINER\ Dallas Observer \ Thursday, Jun 13 2013
Dinosaur and Robot Stop a Train, also a FIT highlight, is total silliness from local playwright/actor/director Brad McEntire and his partner in comedy, Jeff Swearingen of Audacity Theatre Lab. But it's artful silliness, with moments of inspired improv between actors and with anyone brave enough to sit in the front row and agree to be dragged onstage.
McEntire, wearing a shiny silver fireproof suit and a silver-painted box on his head, is the emotionless robot. Swearingen is the dim-witted dinosaur, decked out in a lime-green ensemble with funny flat paws and waggly tail. They're holding a press conference to explain how the robot traveled back from the future and the dino from the distant past to end up rescuing "a stupid, stupid girl" (plucked from the audience) who'd wandered in front of a speeding locomotive. After considerable (and funny) physical shtick, the guys transition their dialogue into their version of the classic Abbot and Costello bit, "Who's on first?" With a robot Abbot and stego-Costello.
Like most of the FIT shows, this one uses minimal set dressing and few props. When one of those props was shattered by the "stupid girl" on opening night, Swearingen used it like a gift from the comedy gods. Sometimes the funniest moments are those they didn't plan.
Dinosaur and Robot Stop a Train, also a FIT highlight, is total silliness from local playwright/actor/director Brad McEntire and his partner in comedy, Jeff Swearingen of Audacity Theatre Lab. But it's artful silliness, with moments of inspired improv between actors and with anyone brave enough to sit in the front row and agree to be dragged onstage.
McEntire, wearing a shiny silver fireproof suit and a silver-painted box on his head, is the emotionless robot. Swearingen is the dim-witted dinosaur, decked out in a lime-green ensemble with funny flat paws and waggly tail. They're holding a press conference to explain how the robot traveled back from the future and the dino from the distant past to end up rescuing "a stupid, stupid girl" (plucked from the audience) who'd wandered in front of a speeding locomotive. After considerable (and funny) physical shtick, the guys transition their dialogue into their version of the classic Abbot and Costello bit, "Who's on first?" With a robot Abbot and stego-Costello.
Like most of the FIT shows, this one uses minimal set dressing and few props. When one of those props was shattered by the "stupid girl" on opening night, Swearingen used it like a gift from the comedy gods. Sometimes the funniest moments are those they didn't plan.
Original post HERE.
Monday, June 10, 2013
DINOSAUR AND ROBOT pic in DMNs
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| Photo credit: Steve Hamm, Special Contributor for the Dallas Morning News |
Sunday, June 9, 2013
One audience member weighs in on DINOSAUR AND ROBOT STOP A TRAIN
"Another day in Paradise, another night at Bath House Festival of Independent Theatres (FIT). As usual Brad McEntire and Jeff Swearingen rammed throttle through the fire wall with mad cap comedy.
Costumes are waaaaaaay better than their promo pic.
Dallas Morning News photog sat in, plus house full of reviewers.
All this and a message. Not pure fluff.
Lots of "Mature, Adult .. " warnings posted, for 2nd show. Brad n Jeff's show is kid-friendly.
Only hazard is sitting in reach of stage. You might be asked to play along and trip footlights. Resistance is .. possible.
Brad plays straight man Robot to Jeff's walnut-brain Dino insanity. They are fab on their own. When they collaborate, it brings house down with silly.
From Al Currie on Facebook.
DINOSAUR AND ROBOT in DallasNews.com
Light and Dark World Premieres Both Impressive at Festival of Independent Theatres
By Lawson Taitte - ltaitte@dallasnews.com
June 8, 2013
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| Brad McEntire as Robot and Jeff Swearingen as Dinosaur in Audacity Theatre Lab's DINOSAUR AND ROBOT STOP A TRAIN |
Shows five and six of the 2013 Festival of Independent Theatres are extremely different but very interesting:
The two world premieres that the Festival of Independent Theatres unveiled on Friday could hardly be more different, but each is impressive in its own way.
Brad McEntire has been producing at the Bath House Cultural Center for many years, for the last five under the aegis of Audacity Theatre Lab. His new piece, Dinosaur and Robot Stop a Train, is his lightest and silliest to date.
McEntire himself in an elaborate robot costume enters and exits repeatedly to set up some chairs. Jeff Swearingen keeps popping in from the other side, clothed in an even more elaborate bright green dinosaur suit. Somehow a “very stupid” young girl has summoned them from the distant future and past to save her from being hit by a train. The time-travelers are holding a press conference to explain.
Swearingen is the kind of funny guy who can provoke hysterical laughter just by the way he lifts his sneakers as he prances on and off the stage or makes a silly face as he talks in caveman-speak. McEntire gets laughs too, and even a couple of audience members who get dragged onstage contribute substantially to the fun.
Rite of Passage Theatre Company’s Ask Questions Later, on the other hand, uses very young artists who do strong work despite any lack of experience. It’s as dark as the Audacity piece is light.
Plan Your Life
The 2013 Festival of Independent Theatres runs through June 22 at the Bath House Cultural Center at White Rock Lake, 521 E. Lawther Drive, Dallas. $18, festival passes $60 to $70. 1-800-617-6904. http://www.festivalofindependenttheatres.org
Wednesday, June 5, 2013
DINOSAUR AND ROBOT a "bonus" to a kick-ass season of theatre in Dallas!
Hey, we got a mention in a list of awesome theatre suff happening this summer in Dallas...
SIZZLING SUMMER THEATER
Banana man and shady dames headline summer theater in Dallas
5.30.13 | 3 pm
Bonus No. 2
Festival of Independent Theatres
May 31-June 22
Besides acting as a launching pad for local playwrights, actors, directors and designers, FIT allows Dallas audiences a low-pressure way to explore new works by pairing two one-act plays together in what’s dubbed a “terrific two-fer.”
Festival of Independent Theatres
May 31-June 22
Besides acting as a launching pad for local playwrights, actors, directors and designers, FIT allows Dallas audiences a low-pressure way to explore new works by pairing two one-act plays together in what’s dubbed a “terrific two-fer.”
This year, eight new shows are on the docket, among them one about a time-traveling robot and dinosaur (from Audacity Theatre Lab), the festival’s first-ever dance performance (courtesy of Rhythmic Souls), and a solo show by local monologist extraordinaire John Michael Colgin exploring the personal ramifications of life in the share-all digital world.
Sunday, June 2, 2013
RASPBERRY FIZZ goes to the Houston Fringe
We're thrilled that Brad McEntire's RASPBERRY FIZZ has been accepted into the 2013 Houston Fringe Festival. The festival dates are October 2-6, 2013. More details as they come in.
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