Pics of Robert's Eternal Goldfish at the 2018 Elgin Fringe

Audience review of opening night of ROBERT'S ETERNAL GOLDFISH at 2018 Elgin Fringe

Side Street Studio Arts' BackSpace

Audacity Theatre Lab

- Ross
Masterful, intense, poignant, brilliant, insightful, oh and did I say intense? By far one of the best storytellers I've ever seen, well delivered and meaningful. I'll be talking about this one for a long time. This show is likely the best of show Fringe 2018. A must see.

Audience Reviews from the Minnesota Fringe

Here's ATL artist Brad McEntire talking about his exerience at the 2018 Minnesota Fringe Festival...

Performing Robert's Eternal Goldfish at the 2018 Minnesota Fringe

So, here's something I did not know. Here at the Minnesota Fringe, ANYONE can leave a review of your show on the festival website. I spotted the first of these reviews the other day and thought, "Huh, the arts journalists around here sure are casual..."

Then, a fellow performer told me that audience members can leave reviews and all the reviews go public on the website, right under the information about your show.

I am of two minds on this. On one side, it scares the crap out of me that just anyone can put up their opinion of the show on my official festival page. I mean, some audience members are more savvy than others. The show is not for everybody. As a performer and playwright, I know I am an acquired taste. So, this just-let-anyone-write-anything approach seems a bit dangerous, even counter-productive for getting people to the show. What if someone doesn't like it, doesn't get it and then shouts from the rooftops for others to avoid it? They probably will and two things happen. I'm out an audience, and my potential audience is out a potentially awesome theatre experience.

On the other hand, in general, I like feedback. I like interaction with my audience not just during the show, but after it as well. And a good write up is a good write up, whether it is from a capable arts journalist or not (and let's not be naive here, a really capable arts journalist reviewing the show is kind of a rarity nowadays).

So, for good or ill, I collected the reviews I recieved for my solo show Robert's Eternal Goldfish during the 2018 Minnesota Fringe. Here's what people had to say...


A ball of light
There's a lot of things I 'hate' in this world, but this is not one of them. Delightful story.
~ Ariel Leaf

Very Enjoyable

A bit of a slow start, but picks up very quickly. Great acting and enjoyable story.

~ Bernadette Hollyday

Deftly told

A personal story that makes you think about how events in our past shape how we approach situations today. Highly professionally told.

~ Beth Wegener

Believable Nightmares!

Nice job!

~ Darla Swanson

Interesting story

A good story. A bit too much anger for me at times with struggle toward resolution. Always kept my attention.

~ Gene bard

Pre-review review, I like ton review before reviews

Here's a refreshing breath of fresh air of a solo show. while it appears on the surface as a conventional memoir-based storytelling show, it cleverly shapeshifts into a fictional character study w/ smatterings of magic, fantasy, and sci-fi leanings. while the misanthropy, sarcasm, and extreme anti-social leanings of "robert" seem abrasive, it's deliciously intentional and only feeds the dark pitch black comedy. i'm recommending this show to everyone, and only wish there was a more..."theatrical" way to convey the goldfish & bowl to match the cleverness of the twisty-turny story, but come on, that's the minorest of criticisms. well done!

~ Jeremy Motz

Nice and angry

Lots of anger in this one, especially in the beginning, but it is a nicely told story, and ends on a nice note.

~ Mark Webb

McEntire takes the audience on a weird journey

Over the course of an hour, Brad McEntire takes us on the journey of a man trapped by his own anger. At times hilarious, frightening and insightful, McEntire balances the easy-going stylings of stand-up comedy with the intensity of an exorcism. Also, there's a cute cardboard goldfish! See it!

~ Phil Gonzales

Good but not stellar

I like misanthropic characters. Especially when their misanthropy is channeled into humorous tirades against the foolish conventions of society, or apoplectic fits over the seemingly trivial. While there is some of that to be seen and heard here, the "magical" aspect of the story and overall character development arc leads down a somewhat different path, which I personally both liked and disliked. When I read a review that the character Robert is like a cross between George Costanza and Lewis Black, I developed certain false expectations about the performance prior to my attendance. My advice: shed any expectations and enjoy the character for who he is rather than for who you might want him to be. Overall, good performance but I did not find myself fully absorbed in the story.

~ R D

The Carp Came Back

Initially, I was put off by the performer. He was a little too loud and too "in your face" for me. But he soon toned it down, the story progressed, and I warmed up to him. He creates a vivid character, initially mired in misanthropy and with a long and funny litany of things he hates. A chance encounter with a persistently friendly lady at a coffee shop leads to a string of strange events which gradually warm his cold, cold heart. This is a show worth seeing.

~ Reid Gagle

Original page... HERE

#   #   #

Press for the 2018 Dallas Solo Fest

Not extensive, but a decent amount of press for the 2018 Dallas Solo Fest. Links to articles/reviews below:

DSF Review: PerVirgin [TheaterJones.com | Janice Franklin | June 8, 2018]

DSF Review: Meatball Seance [TheaterJones.com | Frank Garrett | June 8, 2018]

DSF Review: A Different Way of Thinking [TheaterJones.com | Martha Heimberg | June 7, 2018]

Solo Fest Q-and-A: Brad McEntire [TheaterJones.com | Mark Lowry | June 7, 2018]

DSF Review: Drunk Lion [TheaterJones.com | Teresa Marrero | June 8, 2018]

 Dallas Solo Fest, a jazz trio, a big band, Memphis Soul and Johnny Cupcakes this weekend in East Dallas [Lakewood Advocate | Will Maddox | June 6, 2018]

Dallas Solo Fest 2018 [Park Cities People | June 6, 2018]

Solo Fest Q-and-A: John Michael [TheaterJones.com | Mark Lowry | June 5, 2018]

Dallas Solo Fest Schedule [TheaterJones.com | Mark Lowry | June 1, 2018]

Meatball Therapy [Dallas Voice | Arnold Wayne Jones | June 1, 2018]

Events Listing: Dallas Solo Fest [ FunCityStuff.com | May 25, 2018]

Presenting the 2018 Dallas Solo Fest [YouTube | May 24, 2018]

Cody Clark: A Different Way of Thinking at Dallas Solo Fest [TexasAutismSociety.org | Carolina Sarria | May 10, 2018 ]

2018 Dallas Solo Fest [Art & Seek | May 4, 2018]

​Audacity Theatre Lab presents the 2018 Dallas Solo Fest [Culture Map Dallas | May 2, 2018]

Dallas Solo Fest at Dallas Children's Theatre's Rosewood Center [Guidelive.com | May 2, 2018]

#   #   #

DSF 2018 Teaser videos

Cain Rodriguez stepped in this year to handle the social media side of things for the Dallas Solo Fest. He created a series of delightful video teasers with the performers, capturing footage during their tech times. These were then posted to instragram leading up to the start of the festival. Here's a few. Take a look.

Dallas Solo Fest Q-and-A: Brad McEntire

Producer of the Dallas Solo Fest Brad McEntire [credit: Robert Heart/ TheaterJones]

Chatting with the man behind the Dallas Solo Fest, which runs through Sunday.

by Mark Lowry
published Thursday, June 7, 2018


Dallas — For the final interview of our Dallas Solo Fest coverage, we chat with Brad McEntire, who runs Audacity Theatre Lab and produces the Dallas Solo Fest. This is the event's fourth year (he skipped 2017 because had recently become a father, and to rethink the festival).

The event runs through Sunday at the Rosewood Center for Family Arts (home of the Dallas Children's Theater).

TheaterJones: This year's festival is different from the first three. Tell me about the changes.

Brad McEntire: Since the beginning, the team behind the Dallas Solo Fest, myself included, really have focused on making the festival a little better year by year. This year, we’ve tightened the whole thing up. There are six performers instead of eight, one week instead of two weekends and no daytime workshops. We have also moved the festival to a new venue. We are now in the studio theatre at the Rosewood Center of the Family Arts instead of where we were previously, at the Margo Jones Theatre in Fair Park.

While we have made a few changes, we have kept the good parts that have developed over the last three incarnations of the fest.  We have continued to focus on content-diverse shows to give a good cross-section of what solo performance can offer.  We have also continued the tradition of 70% of the ticket sales going directly to the artists, who still don’t pay any form of festival fee to participate. We even arranged housing for visiting artists who were coming in from out-of-town. We want to insure that the performers get a nice dose of Texas hospitality.

What is your submission/acceptance process? Are you looking for fully formed works? Stuff in development? Both?

The application process began last fall. We received dozens of submissions. A selection committee combed through each submission and we whittled it down to the six that audiences will see at this year’s Dallas Solo Fest.

We are not a “fringe” fest, so we don’t do selection by lottery or on a first-come-first-serve basis. We curate the selection very closely because it is such a focused, intimate festival. I call it a “boutique” arts festival. In place of the big, blustery, street fair-like atmosphere audiences can get at other performance festivals around the country, especially fringe festivals, we are aiming for a more personal experience for both the performers and audiences alike. With just six performers, we do our best to fit the programming together so each show is different and offers a unique theatre experience.

To answer your question more directly, we ONLY look for developed works. In order to deepen and grow the quality of the festival, we have made it a mission to seek out shows that have already played at several venues for several different sets of audiences. There are places that cater to shows in development, allowing artists to experiment and workshop, but we aren’t looking to be one of those kinds of fests. I actually host a quarterly workshop event called the Audacity Solo Salon for that kind of thing. No, we are looking for virtuosity, originality and a bit of hard-won experience from the performers we choose for the Dallas Solo Fest.

You've done fringe and solo festivals for years as a performer. Describe how networking with other artists and presenters on these circuits helped you with Solo Fest.

Independent touring fringe festival artists, particularly those that perform solo shows, are a wonderfully tight-knit community. There are Facebook groups and performers really do kind of keep track of who’s doing what and where.

I have noticed two things again and again when meeting solo touring artists around North America. First, solo performers almost always have an overwhelming sense of enthusiasm. They are real champions for their own shows and like to talk about what they do with audiences and fellow artists. They also are amazingly self-sufficient. Solo performers aren’t just the single actor on stage during their shows, but more often than not, the driving force behind the scenes, too. They are interested in their own marketing, ticket sales, technical requirements, and a bunch of off-stage concerns that traditional actors aren’t always that into. I think this is maybe because the production for a solo performer is by its nature a rather personal endeavor.

Since becoming a dad at the end of 2016, I have, of late, had to curtail a lot of my adventuring around performing my own solo shows. Kiddos, it turns out, take up a lot of time, energy and love. I am slowly getting back into it (I’m off to Minneapolis and Canada this summer to perform my solo piece Robert’s Eternal Goldfish). I hope to strike up some new friendships, see some great new shows, talk with other festival organizers and build out my network more and more.

Despite small audiences for the previous festivals, are your artists generally happy with their experience in Dallas?

On the whole, yes, the performers from the past several years have sent us overwhelmingly positive feedback about the festival and about Dallas. This has been important because one of my personal core beliefs is that the theatre should serve the artist first, then—and only then—the artist can serve the audience and the community.

Crowds have been rather uneven. Some shows sell out, sometimes you can hear crickets. It is especially difficult to market out-of-town performers to local audiences who have little name recognition outside of the fringe touring circuit. Plus, there is a lot of other great stuff happening around Dallas this time of year, such as Kitchen Dog’s wonderful New Works Festival. My hope is that audiences don’t chose one over the other, but instead turn out to both.

The team and I have gone out of our way to really push the content of the shows when marketing. We hope people will see what a given show is about, and then, based on that, decide to come see it.

To make it more worthwhile for the artists, we video shows for performers and drum up as much press for their individual shows as we can. We also offer billeting (touring speak for housing) with local theatre artists acting as hosts. We encourage interaction with audience members before and after the show in the lobby and we do our best to make them feel welcome and appreciated.

What would you like to see for DSF 2019? 2025?

Okay, don’t get ahead of yourself, Mark. If the festival goes well this year, I will do at least one more in 2019. I originally intended to do at least five years of the festival when I started. This is the fourth one. We’ll see. This is really contingent on whether audiences show up and support the event.

I’m not producing in a vacuum. If the message is, “Hey, buddy, Dallas doesn’t want or need this in the cultural landscape,” then that will come through loud and clear. If it fills a gap in the theatre community, then, of course, I’ll keep it going.

Personally, I am an advocate for intimate, indie theatre such as these one-person shows, but I’m not aiming to shove it down Dallas’ throat if it is not wanted.

If it does continue, I can promise we will try to make it better and better. I dream of the Dallas Solo Fest, eventually, becoming a multi-week event in several close together venues with panel discussions, workshops, open mics, food trucks and a roster of the best, brightest and most diverse solo shows in the world converging on Dallas. It would still be relatively small and focused, but with a wider range of programming and, perhaps, it would make a slightly deeper dent in the universe. Dallas could potentially become known as a hub for these kinds of shows, bringing in as well as exporting one-person productions. I mean, that’s the dream.

Anything else to add?

Yep, tickets are on sale. The welcome mat is out for audiences. All info one could want is here on TheaterJones and at www.DallasSoloFest.com.

2018 Dallas Solo Fest announced

DALLAS, TX – Audacity Theatre Lab is pleased to announce the 2018 Dallas Solo Fest, June 6 -10, 2018 at the Rosewood Center for the Arts, 5938 Skillman, Dallas, Texas 75231.  The festival will feature six distinct one-person shows presented by performers from around the country.

The 2018 Dallas Solo Fest line-up includes:

Jim Loucks in The Biscuiteater [credit - Rich Prugh]

The Biscuiteater
Created and performed by Jim Loucks (Venice, CA). Directed by Lisa Chess

Jim Loucks' rollicking solo performance draws on his Southern childhood to tell the story of a small-town policeman, loosely based on his Granddaddy, haunted by his shooting of a black man in the line of duty. As he nears the end of his life, he seeks redemption through teaching his grandson to respect life and to respect himself.

Chris Davis performing Drunk Lion [credit - C. Davis]

Drunk Lion
Created and performed by Chris Davis (Philadelphia, PA). Directed by Mary Toumanen

A lonely alcoholic lion spends his days drinking into oblivion in a cantina, until he meets Chris, a young foreigner learning how to speak Spanish. The unlikely pair forge an intoxicated bond over life, love, and alcohol.

Drunk Lion is written in Spanish and English, but it's all translated for you in the action, so no one is left behind! The writer Chris Davis lived for 3 years in Mexico, and the play documents some of his over-the-top experiences and ultimately is a dedication to his second home country. Chris embodies all of the characters exploring languages, loss, alcoholism, and how universal stories can be found in every corner of the world. Even Lions get drunk in cantinas!

Cody Clark performing A DIFFERENT WAY OF THINKING

Cody Clark: A Different Way of Thinking
Created and performed by Cody Clark (Louisville, KY). Directed by Taylor Martin.

Magician Cody Clark has a different way of seeing the world. Whether it’s finding the magic in an everyday moment, or recreating an everyday moment with his magic, the magician’s art is never far from his mind.

Cody discovered his love for magic at age 11, 9 years and 9 months after his parents discovered he had autism. Through stage magic and story, sleight-of-hand and journey of mind, Cody will show you the world through his eyes. Maybe you’ll find that his way of thinking isn’t all that different from yours.

John Michael in Meatball Seance

Meatball Séance
Created and performed by John Michael (Chicago, IL). Directed by Janet Howe.

John Michael returns to the Dallas Solo Fest after his sell-out show Crossing Your I's (later retitled Dementia Me) at DSF 2014. Meatball Séance is his latest offering—quite literally—to the ghosts of memory. John Michael attempts to summon the spirit of his deceased mother so she can meet/approve of his new boyfriend. And what better way to connect than through her favorite recipe for meatballs?

John S. Davies presents OH, JESUS! OR...

Oh, Jesus! Or… An Actor, a Cynic and a Savior Walk Into a Bar
Created and performed by John S. Davies (Dallas, TX). Directed by Matt Lyle.

Jesus is back (well, he says he's Jesus...) and he has daddy issues. The crucifixion/resurrection thing didn't work out so well the first time. The world is still in chaos, so he's convinced his Father to let him try again, but this time he's going to use 21st Century tech to get the word out. Unfortunately, he keeps getting interrupted by a cynic with a stick up his ass. Davies presents a strange and uproarious meta-journey into the landscape of faith and deception.

Nkechi Chibueze in PerVirgin

PerVirgin
Created and performed by Nkechi Chibueze (New Orleans, LA). Directed by Eritria Pitts.

​Kechi is 34 years old and has never been kissed . . . and she REALLY wants to talk about it! Join Kechi as she lays out the blueprint to becoming a super virgin, shares her cringe-worthy crushalationships with lessons in love, reveals her grandiose plans for her first kiss, and and explains how the Pussycat Dolls and Zumba are her sexy spirit animals!


The 2018 Dallas Solo Fest is a production of Audacity Theatre Lab and will play June 6-10, 2018 at the Rosewood Center for the Arts, 5938 Skillman, Dallas, Texas 75231. A full and detailed schedule will be released soon. Single tickets and Festival Passes for all shows go on sale May 1, 2018.  Festival Passes include one admission to each and every festival show and are $65.  Individual ticket prices for each show are $15. Discounts available for students, etc. Reservations will be able to be made at the Dallas Solo Fest website or by calling (214) 888-6650. Details about the shows, artists’ bios, the other festival information at: www.DallasSoloFest.com

Pics from Spring 2018 Audacity Solo Salon

This installment of the Audacity Solo Salon series was held on March 5, 2018 and featured excerpts from solo shows-in-progress by Blake Henri, Shayne Larango and Brad McEntire.

Shayne Larango

Blake Henri

Audacity Solo Salon - Spring 2018

The aim of the Audacity Solo Salon is to support and nurture both established and emerging solo performers in the north Texas area. It is also a way to extend the mission of the Dallas Solo Fest beyond just the annual festival itself. 

This quarterly series will be a way for solo artists to present, rehearse, experiement with and develop their work in front of supportive audiences. Come on out and see a new one-person show in progress...

This installment in what has become a semi-quarterly series from Audacity Theatre Lab will feature excerpts from solo shows-in-progress by Blake Henri, Shayne Larango and Brad McEntire.

Monday, March 5 @ 7:30 pm
At the Margo Jones Theatre in Fair Park, Dallas TX
For directions and parking information visit... HERE

Admission is FREE, but any and all donations are welcome (donations go towards the the Dallas Solo Fest).
Also BYOB!

The Excerpts:
An Illiad - Adapted by Lisa Peterson and Denis O’Hare, Perfomed by Blake Henri
“An Iliad” is a modern-day retelling of Homer’s Trojan War epic. The lone figure onstage is a storyteller, possibly Homer, possibly one of the many bards who followed in his footsteps. He is fated to tell this story throughout history, destined to document all of the wars that have happened, and, possibly, all of the wars to come. It uses the tale of Achilles vs. Hector as its vehicle, but it also explores the journey of the storyteller and his struggle with his/her own humanity. With poetry and humor, “An Iliad” grasps the heroism of war, the horrors of war, and mankind’s compulsion towards violence. The play premiered at Seattle Rep, played at Portland Center Stage in 2010 and the Undermain here in Dallas in 2012 (with two performers on stage). Now a young solo performer cuts his teeth with the piece.

Miss Something - Written and Performed by Shayne Larango
Shayne Larango has a charming affect that seduces you into submission and then bites you on the ass. “Miss Something” is one of her Ten Gallon Texas Tales about a young woman finally stepping into the spotlight created by her own hand. Come bask in the pageantry, conflict, and humor that life in Texas has to offer.

​Robert's Eternal Goldfish - Written and Performed by Brad McEntire
Robert J. Roberts has a huge problem with the world. In particular he really dislikes people. All people. One day he becomes the unlikely custodian of a magical goldfish and Mr. Roberts' misanthropic view of the world is seriously challenged. Can a person be frustrated into being a better human being? The play premiered at the Out of the Loop Festival in 2014. McEntire continues to develop and tour the piece.