In 1999, Neil LaBute wrote three grim little plays and wrapped them together under the misleading title Bash. Some of the critics said LaBute was getting back at Utah and at the Mormons, as a revenge for the years he spent studying and then teaching at Brigham Young University. The off-Broadway version in 2000 carried the title Bash: Latter Day Plays. more ›

With four directors—Vestige mainstay Susie Gidseg (Touch), Will Hollis Snider (Orestes), and first-timers Aaron Black and Jen Brown—eleven playwrights, and fifteen actors performing eleven short plays, Muses succeeds at assembling a sampler that delivers an above-average hit-to-miss ratio. Which, given the mixtape-like nature of the evening, is a pretty strong compliment. more ›

The Austin premiere of Touch, written by Toni Press-Coffman and directed by Susie Gidseg, is the sort of performance that raises questions for the audience. Some of them, like whether it's fair to judge a person for how he grieves, are the sort that are comfortable to ask, if a bit sad. Others—for example, whether it's fair for a male critic to be wary of a play written and directed by women that uses a female character's rape and torture to explore a man's pain&mash;are less so. more ›

A lot of teenagers feel insecure about their appearance. Gangly arms and legs protrude out from morphing torsos. Voices have an octave-will of their own. And then there's the hair. Hair where? Hair where there was never, ever hair. But one teenager has this particular problem in the extreme. His name is Billy, and when he discovers his pubescent hair issue is a little more serious than everyone else's, he sets out to find the source of his shame: his father, Gorilla Man. more ›

The Vestige Group presents Marisol: "an angelic revolt, urban chaos, social disorder and personal struggle." If that's too high level for you, the plot revolves around a woman who is abandoned by her guardian angel; he's off to fight with other angels in a battle against God. As the End Times approach, Marisol journeys through an increasingly unrecognizable world. more ›

Usually when someone invites packs of strangers to wander around their house for a small admission charge, it’s to show off overdone Christmas trees or elaborate crown moulding on some kind of “Tour Of (Our Bizarrely Perfect Suburban) Homes” ordeal. And people inside behave as if their lives were from a play, and everything’s supremely creepy. So why not just do an actual play in the house and skip the crown moulding altogether? Amen! That’s the idea behind Muses II: Memories of a House. more ›

On a quest to produce a revival of 2006's critically acclaimed The Muses: Memories of a House (the Chron called it "theatrical magic"), the vestige group is in search of a home. more ›

FRIDAY [27] music • While You Were Out, presented by Bueno Music Bureau, with The Unbearables, She Sir, The Scripts, Friday After Dark at Club de Ville ($5) books • Anita Gonzalez, Ph.D., presents Dancing Between Myth and Reality at CAAAS (UT - Jester A232) (3:00pm) comedy • Tig Notaro and Steve Burr at Cap City Comedy Club comedy • Punchline, open mic stand up comedy at ColdTowne Theater (10pm) dance • Fetish and Other... more ›

FRIDAY [20] benefit/music • Ashera-Blare-A IV with All In the Golden Afternoon, The Heirs, The Minderchucks, and The Otters at Club DeVille beer/party • Black Star Co-op's Craft Beer Celebration with Pong, Opposite Day, The Second Line Social, and fine craft beer from around the country at Fiesta Gardens (8pm-Midnight, $10) comedy • Punchline, open mic stand up comedy at ColdTowne Theater (10pm) dance • Room, part of Refraction Arts' Fuse Box Festival at The... more ›

THURSDAY [19] benefit/music • Do512 and Direct Events co-host a benefit for Groundwork Music with Tammany Hall, The Boxing Lesson at La Zona Rosa (RSVP for Free Entry, $5 Cover Otherwise) books • "The Art of Travel and Travel Writing" with Lonely Planet writer Alex Hershey and Stephanie Elizondo Griest at Intellectual Property (5:00pm) books • The Texas Monthly Author Series presents Ian Rankin at BookPeople (7:00pm) film • Movies in the Park: "Talladega... more ›

Let's see. The cast is full of women, including several very funny, award-nominated actresses. The comedy is of the backstage variety. And the play pokes at Anton Chekhov and Texas. That sounds like a recipe for a blast, no? If you're not familiar with Anton in Show Business, here's the gist. A self-centered television starlet, an embittered professional actress, and an enthusiastic ingénue come together for an ill-fated production of Anton Chekhov¹s The Three Sisters... more ›

If you lost your ACL pass and – even after countless screaming matches with Front Gate Ticket employees and hours of scouring Craig’s List for scalpers – you’ve been left sans plans for the festival weekend (or maybe you’re just afraid of tourists/loathe sunshine/whatever), we’ve got an alternative suggestion. An air conditioned alternative suggestion. Go see a play. That’s right, don’t be a pussy about it. It’s just theatre. You might even like it... more ›

It's getting downright trendy to stage productions in people's houses these days. Not the sort to be left behind, the Vestige Group (who we've mentioned before) is producing a very intriguing new work, The Muses: Memories of a House. more ›

As we scourged all the theatre listings this week, endlessly digging for all the dirt on all the shows in all the venues from all the companies in all of Central Texas, we realized…there is no spoon. There’s also practically nothing opening this weekend. But never fear, dear theatre goer, there’s plenty, plenty of shows that are still running from previous weeks that – if you haven’t already seen them – will forever haunt... more ›

There's some fresh blood in Austin's theatrical waters. Our first instinct was to round them up in our pickup, blindfold them, and spank 'um real hard with cricket bats. But that's been done. Instead, we bring you news of the very first production -- ever -- by The Vestige Group. Fat Pig, a play about a good looking guy who falls for a woman who, according to "society's norms", he shouldn't have been attracted... more ›