YOLO Solo Fest in DallasExaminer.com

Nice write-up in the Dallas Examiner for young actress, Kennedy Waterman's show ALLERGIC ME in the YOLO Solo Fest.

See it... HERE.

I BROUGHT HOME A CHUPACABRA at Yolo Solo

Lauren Moore in I BROUGHT HOME A CHUPACABRA

ATL's own Brad McEntire has a short piece in the YOLO Solo Fest.

I BROUGHT HOME A CHUPACABRA opens this week as part of the YOLO Solo Fest. Ruth Engel-McEntire is directing and Ms. Lauren Moore performs the solo piece.

I BROUGHT HOME A CHUPACABRA is about a young woman who finds a semi-mythical beast on a hike and brings it back to her apartment. Over the eventful next few days she comes to grips with the fact that she connects better with animals than with people. It is freakin' awesome and you should come out and see it.

It plays Thursday Jan. 23 and Friday Jan. 24 at 7 PM at the Margo Jones Theatre in Dallas' Fair Park. Info... HERE.

THE LAST CASTRATO reviewed in TheaterJones

Something Out of Nothing

At the Margo Jones Theatre, Audacity Theatre Lab and actor Jeff Swearingen bring the right tools to The Last Castrato.

published Saturday, January 18, 2014
by Kris Noteboom

Jeff Swearingen in THE LAST CASTRATO

What is grotesque? Are people born with monstrous deformations grotesque? Or are the people who neglect, disown, hide, exploit, or abuse these cursed souls the truly despicable ones? Audacity Theatre Lab's production of Andy Eninger's The Last Castrato, at the Margo Jones Theatre in Fair Park, cedes the floor to Joseph (Jeff Swearingen), a man born without his “manhood,” as he recounts his life, his crime and a tragic love doomed.

Joseph arrives for his parole hearing, haphazardly dragging two large suitcases with him. He addresses the parole board, played by the audience, by telling the story that led to a crime that remains as yet unspoken. Born without genitals to a mother who died in childbirth, Joseph is shipped away from home by his father, eventually landing in a special school in Paris for savants. However, there is nothing special about Joseph, save for having no-thing. A misunderstanding places him in the path of destiny.

At the school, Joseph meets Elena, a woman born inside-out, her skin on the inside and organs on the outside. She's kept alive by a special machine encased in a box around her body. Her head is covered save for one good eye which can peek out to the world. Despite this, Elena is a world class singer. The two fall in love. It's a love they can never pursue past a certain point. Consummation is impossible, just as any semblance of a normal life. Upon graduation, Elena is hidden away by her parents and Joseph struggles to make ends meet. 

Eventually, Joseph's love for Elena begets a plan. Joseph will pose as a Castrato singer, synching his lips in public performances to an offstage Elena actually singing the music. While successful at first, things fall apart and the two venture in their own tragic directions. But Joseph's love remains and leads to the crime and a bittersweet end.

The piece is a monologue, so all the responsibility falls on Swearingen's shoulders in this performance. And unlike the character he plays, Swearingen proves himself supremely talented. Employing various props and endless illustrative gestures, he is able to tell the story without ever letting the sheer absurdity of it overwhelm his performance.

This is a particular talent of both Swearingen and director Brad McEntire. Few could handle the frenetic and desperate Joseph, particularly in the physical action of the piece. Swearingen's presence is engrossing, and his commitment to the demands of telling, and acting, the story, sells it in a way that draws the audience in, able to evoke laughter in one moment, and empathetic tears in the next. 

Joseph and Elena may be physically deformed, but their love is beautiful. And they find it despite the rest of the world trying to stand in their way. Swearingen makes Joseph, despite lacking the requisite equipment, more human than any of the men portrayed in his story. And that's what makes the end that much more heart-wrenching. 

Humanity is a noun, but it's also a contested subjective term. As is love. In Joseph those concepts are stretched to their very limits, and in the dark crevices of the world where the outcasts linger, they are realized fully.

» The YOLO Solo Festival will be performed in the second week of this production, with eight short solo plays presented before and after The Last Castrato.

See original post... HERE.

YOLO in Dallas Observer

Betty Milligan in Tyler's Mom by Ben Schroth

The Dallas Observer takes a very tongue-in-cheek look at visiting the YOLO Solo Fest. 

Dig it... HERE.

New designs for YOLO Solo Fest flyers

Artwork by Elias Taylorson

Info on YOLO Solo Fest... HERE.

Swearingen on DFW.com

Jeff Swearingen gets a mention in a People-to-Watch-in-2014 article by Mark Lowry on DFW.com

Tiny mention of THE LAST CASTRATO at end of piece. See it HERE.

Piece on YOLO Solo in TheaterJones.com

13 year-old Kennedy Waterman is part of the YOLO Solo Fest

Audacity is hosting, along with media sponsor TheaterJones.com, the YOLO Solo Festival. It is the brainchild of producer/journalist/solo performer Elaine Liner. It has been scheduled on top of the second weekend of THE LAST CASTRATO.

The TJ  article... HERE.
Info about the event... HERE.

Anouncing the YOLO Solo Fest

Audacity is proud to be hosting, along with media sponsor TheaterJones.com, the 2014 YoloSolo Festival, a collection of one-person shows based on the phrase "You Only Live Once." Playing January 21-26, the festival will coincide with the second week of performances of THE LAST CASTRATO.

At the Margo Jones Theatre, 
1121 First Avenue in Fair Park, Dallas TX 75210
[map and info here]

Tickets are $15 at the door (cash or credit card accepted). Reservations can be made by calling (214) 888-6650. More ticket info is available HERE.

The performance schedule is as follows and brief show descriptions are below:

Tues., Jan. 21: 
7 p.m. OSTINATO by Natalie Gaupp & THE ELEPHANT IN THE ROOM by Bruce R. Coleman
8 p.m. THE LAST CASTRATO by Andy Eninger 

Wed., Jan. 22:
7 p.m. SHE ALWAYS PICKED ME by Kate Lowry & TYLER'S MOM by Ben Schroth
8 p.m. THE LAST CASTRATO by Andy Eninger

Thurs., Jan. 23:
7 p.m. I BROUGHT HOME A CHUPACABRA by Brad McEntire & MELVA TOSTI ATTENDS CAREER DAY by Andi Allen
8 p.m. THE LAST CASTRATO by Andy Eninger

Fri., Jan. 24:
7 p.m. ALLERGIC ME by Kennedy Waterman & I BROUGHT HOME A CHUPACABRA by Brad McEntire
8 p.m. THE LAST CASTRATO by Andy Eninger
9 p.m. BOUNCING UGLY by Danny O'Connor

Sat., Jan. 25:
7 p.m. MELVA TOSTI ATTENDS CAREER DAY by Andi Allen & TYLER'S MOM by Ben Schroth
8 p.m. THE LAST CASTRATO by Andy Eninger
9 p.m. BOUNCING UGLY by Danny O'Connor

Sun., Jan. 26:
2 p.m. ALLERGIC ME by Kennedy Waterman & OSTINATO by Natalie Gaupp
3 p.m. THE LAST CASTRATO by Andy Eninger
4 p.m. SHE ALWAYS PICKED ME by Kate Lowry & THE ELEPHANT IN THE ROOM by Bruce R. Coleman



Show Descriptions:
ALLERGIC ME -- written and performed by Kennedy Waterman; directed by Jeff Swearingen. For 13-year-old Waterman, a peanut is a huge deal. Her monologue, accompanied by a short film, chronicles her challenges and her ongoing battle to beat severe peanut allergy.

BOUNCING UGLY -- written and performed by Danny O'Connor. A series of stories about the hopes and struggles of an actor working a night job as a bouncer at NYC's rough-and-tumble Coyote Ugly bar.

THE ELEPHANT IN THE ROOM -- written and directed by Bruce R. Coleman; performed by LisaAnne Haram. The vice principal of a middle school, at the end of her tether, confronts the mother of one particularly nasty student, giving her a reality check.

I BROUGHT HOME A CHUPACABRA -- written by Brad McEntire; directed by Ruth Engel-McEntire; performed by Lauren Moore. A young woman finds a semi-mysthical beast on a hike and brings it home. During the next few days she is forced to figure out why she connects better with animals than people.

MELVA TOSTI ATTENDS CAREER DAY -- written and performed by Andi Allen. Aging opera diva Melva Tosti is invited to speak at Mario Lanza High School Career Day. Answering questions off cards, Madame Tosti shares stories of her life as the "Diva Formaggio."

OSTINATO -- written and directed by Natalie Gaupp; performed by Katie Weekley. With the Yeats poem "He Who Wishes for the Cloths of Heaven" as background, a meaningless but obsessively consuming act -- making mac and cheese -- becomes a metaphor for a life devoured by banality.

SHE ALWAYS PICKED ME -- Written and directed by Kate Lowry; performed by Dillon Sherrod. A look at love and what happened between friends.

TYLER'S MOM -- written by Benjamin Schroth; directed by Greg Phillips. Tyler's mom is having a rough morning. She sits down at the kitchen table and unloads on topics of life, death and pets.