If We Were Birds reviews
“If We Were Birds,” by contemporary Canadian playwright Erin Shields, is as harrowing as advertised. It’s a modern feminist take on a tale from Ovid’s “Metamorphoses,” about a king who rapes his wife’s sister and is then subjected to a disgusting revenge scheme. —Hartford Courant
“If We Were Birds” fills a special niche…based on myths and legends, not plays. They’re about war and want to relate clearly to wars and violent interpersonal conflict.” —Hartford Courant
This talented ensemble of ten …all drama students at UConn’s School of Dramatic Arts… are the true stars of “If We Were Birds,” Erin Shields’ empowering character study of war, revenge, tragedy, heroism, madness, misfortune and rage that uses Ovid’s myth “Procne, Philomela and Tereus” (Book VI of “Metamorphoses”) as its emotional centerpiece. —Jim R, Take 2
If you were trapped in a tragedy, unable to escape, you might dream of being a bird, capable of flying free, finally released from your cage. Imagine you are a slave, a prize of war, stripped of your dignity, without a voice, subject to cruelty and a victim of rape. The Connecticut Repertory Theatre is cautioning you to take a leap into the past, back to the time of Ovid’s masterful “The Metamorphoses” and experience Erin Shields’ “If We Were Birds” at the intimate Studio Theatre on the campus of the University of Connecticut until Sunday, April 7. —Connecticut Critics Circle
The Me Too movement has its roots in 2006, when social activist and community organizer Tarana Burke began to use the phrase to help survivors of sexual violence particularly young women of color from low-income communities find pathways to healing. The movement found a national audience in 2017 as a hashtag through social media, which called attention to sexual harassment and assault in the workplace following allegations of sexual abuse against film producer Harvey Weinstein. —UConn Today
Eurydice reviews
This is a fine chance to rediscover this lyrical drama of love and loss, presented with the youthfulness it demands. —Hartford Courant
Director Helene Kvale is to be commended for taking on a difficult script that is alternative, oppositional and outside the mainstream. I look forward to seeing more of her productions in the future. American theatre needs more work that is willing to be complex and abstract. —Edmond Chibeau Blog
What is impressive about the production is the way that all of the technical and performative elements blend together to present love and grief as living and breathing forces of nature on the stage. Orpheus hears music in everything. It is an all-encompassing experience for the musician, who hears music in name of his love, to the sound of a creaky well pump, a quality that makes him the legend he is in mythology. —The Daily Campus
Director Helene Kvale says, “Our production is an elegy – a poetic symphony of love, loss and memory with a whimsical nod to Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland. According to Chinese legend, a red thread of fate binds two people who are destined to be together. So it is in Eurydice. We explore the fragile connection of young love in this humorous and profound adaptation of the classic myth.”
Burning Blue review
Absorbing and moving from the opening frame, Burning Blue exposes the mechanics and consequences of modern-day witch hunts that attempt to put restrictions on who and how we love. —Brendan Peterson, Ticketing.Frameline.org
Big Love review
This production of Big Love by the Connecticut Repertory Theatre has certainly met Mee’s wonderful, theatrical challenge by taking leaps. —Ed Wierzbicki, WNPR News
Pride and Prejudice review
Travis George’s lovely sitting room set transforms itself to the swirls of romantic action under the skilled direction of Helene Kvale, aided by Laura Crow’s fine period costuming. —Bonnie Goldberg, CT Critics Circle
Arguably one of the most beloved novels ever written, Jane Austen’s 19th-century masterpiece Pride and Prejudice makes its East Coast premier with this mostly faithful and thoroughly delightful play, adapted by Joseph Hanreddy and J.R. Sullivan and directed by Helene Kvale at the Connecticut Repertory Theatre. Thankfully, this production, although containing some modifications of the novel, retains all the essentials of the story and much of the original dialogue, making it completely satisfying to this Austen devotee, and very likely creating some new converts along the way. If at all possible, go see this glorious production of Pride and Prejudice. —Kory Loucks, Journal Inquirer
The Gut Girls review
Helene Kvale has forgone the traditional stage for this production, opting instead to have the show set on the deck of the Studio and Mobius Theaters. Wood platforms and steel scaffolding enhance the industrial atmosphere found in turn of the century gutting sheds and the audience observe the performance from all angles, sitting on chairs and couches as well as floor pillows. Kvale’s choices are calculated and deliberate… The cast soaked up this experience… taking Kvale’s opinion and experience to heart while admiring her talent and professionalism. —The Chronicle
A Doll’s House review
What I saw at the Gene Frankel Theatre just knocked my socks off. Bated Breath Theatre Company’s inaugural production not only has superb acting, excellent direction and an innovative set… it shouldn’t be missed. —Paulanne Simmons, Curtain Up
Helene Kvale, an accomplished actor in her own right, has brought her actor’s sensibility to the production and allowed her performers to find their own truths in their characters. Although the play might have benefitted from some editing, it holds up quite well and certainly held the audience in rapt attention. —Loria Parker, Theaterscene.net
By focusing on the relationship and ditching the realism, (Bated Breath) has succeeded in re-staging it for today… Kvale abandons realism by having shadows loom large on the back wall of the stage, suggesting that Nora’s past is coming back to haunt her. The celebrated Christmas tree is a coat tree from which she hangs ribbons. It is a sham tree, much as her life has been a sham life. —Amy Freeman, Theater Talk Review
The Parkville Project review
Everyone who’s an artist wants to be involved in something like this… It’s new, and it tells a great story. And for me, it’s close to my heart. —Vanessa De La Torre, The Hartford Courant
This is apparently Bated Breath’s second production, the first being a new translation and production of Ibsen’s A Doll’s House in New York City. Their next production The Cooked and the Raw, billed as an erotic thriller, is being prepared for Real Arts Ways (in Parkville!) in 2011. This ambitious company certainly deserves watching. —Andrew Beck, Hartford Arts Examiner
Hunger review
an offbeat and entertaining theater alternative… playful and stylish staging by Helene Kvale. —Frank Rizzo, The Hartford Courant
Hunger is commendable, complex and ambitious. Here is hoping that Bated Breath becomes a mainstay… and continues to stretch the definition of theatre. —Jacques Lamarre, Broadwayworld.com
Hartford’s fortunate to have a new professional theater company creating original work. —Jacques Lamarre, The Hartford Advocate
Hunger was chosen as Finalist in the World Stage Design competition 2013 in Cardiff, Wales, for costumes designed by Laura Crow.
