GOOD PRESS FOR MY FAVORITE
HOUSTON THEATER COMPANIES

From the Houston Chronicle:

Theatre way outside the box

Avant-garde troupes don't have the downtown companies' luxurious accommodations, performing instead in funky holes-in-the-wall and warehouse spaces that suit their content. Of course, companies taking wild risks fall flat on their experimental faces from time to time. But so do companies that play it safe.

And

Mildred's Umbrella Theatre Company: Founded in 2002, this company stresses Houston premieres and new works. Under artistic director Jennifer Decker, it aims for hard-hitting fare, sometimes with a feminist tilt.

And

Dos chicas theater commune: Founded in 1997 by actors and writers "tired of the overproduced works" at other theaters, dos chicas has been doing its eclectic mix of bold dramas and camp comedies, new works by local writers and some classics. They perform in places familiar to the art crowd, everywhere from Commerce Street Art Warehouse to the bar Helios.

Click here for the rest.

This mainstream recognition is a long time in coming. As Anne, dos chicas theater goddess, explained when she emailed me the link, the article doesn't have a lot of bells and whistles, but the theater critic who wrote it has been ignoring the marvelous underground scene in H-Town for years. Mildred's Umbrella, for whom many of my friends work, does cerebral but passionate and challenging theater. Even their failures are worth watching, and when they're on, they're sublime, and that's not a word I use very often with a straight face. Dos chicas, of course, is my permanent theater home in Houston. Even though I've been in Baton Rouge for over two years, they've still got me listed as a company member on their website, a status I hope I never lose, no matter where I go. They, too, do marvelous work, in an always fun-filled, devil-may-care atmosphere. In addition to allowing me to continue working as an actor while I toiled as a high school teacher, dos chicas gave me the opportunity to come into my own as a director.

If you're in Houston and looking for something to do, either of these companies' shows are well worth taking in. And tickets are cheap. They sell drinks, too.

Congrats guys. After all these years, you definitely deserve the praise.

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