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The Reviews Are In

August 19 2010

Martin Brady, Nashville Scene
“Nashville has a much better track record for creating original songs than it does for creating original plays. But Wes Driver and Greg Greene seek to change that: Their original piece Twilight of the Gods, which introduces Music City to their new Blackbird Theater company, is an unusual yet accessible package that melds history with fantasy while delivering a great deal of unexpected humor. . . . It’s quite conceivable that Twilight of the Gods could have a life somewhere after this mounting. It’s well-crafted, it’s a terrific workout for character actors, and it combines keen historical allusions with mordant wit and sharp literary satire that never stops, even as the bodies keep dropping.”
Link: http://www.nashvillescene.com/nashville/blackbird-theater-company-makes-an-auspicious-debut-with-an-original-whodunit/Content?oid=1727836

Jeffrey Ellis, BroadwayWorld.com
“Blackbird Theater, the newest member of Nashville’s burgeoning community of theater companies, makes an auspicious debut with the premiere of Wes Driver and Greg Greene’s smartly written new script, Twilight of the Gods. . . . Twilight of the Gods is rather sprightly in its tone, despite the more serious underpinnings of the script. Driver and Greene have created a compelling premise through which they present all manner of possibilities, some confounding, others amazingly cogent. The dialogue fairly snaps and crackles with well-blended fun and intensity. . . . Driver and Greene are given exceptional support by a group of experienced Nashville performers. . . . [Patrick Kramer’s] histrionics [as H.G. Wells] are delightfully and almost epically comical . . . Britt Byrd as Sarah, the young woman believed to be the reincarnated Jack the Ripper . . . effectively underplays her scenes with a gracefully tortured performance that makes her scenes late in the second act particularly moving . . . Michael Slayton is impressive as Nietzsche and his interactions with Kramer’s Wells are great fun to watch. Wesley Paine, as is always expected of her, gives a wonderfully nuanced reading of control freak Mary Baker Eddy. Tim Parker, as Edgar Allan Poe, is frighteningly amusing as the man we might consider the father of the American horror genre, and Caleb Pritchett makes a believably besotted Rasputin with his rather droll delivery of his character’s randy lines. The remaining members of the well-cast ensemble deliver their characters to the stage with a certain vigorous relish. . . . “
Link: http://nashville.broadwayworld.com/viewcolumn.cfm?colid=157881&preview=on

Jaz Dorsey, New Plays Nashville
“Theatre in Nashville turned a new corner with the premiere performance of our newest theatre company, The Blackbird Theater, at Lipscomb University’s beautiful Shamblin Theater, marking not only a new era in Nashville theatre but also the emergence of Lipscomb as a major force on our theatre scene. Agatha Christie meets Oscar Wilde (with a touch of G. B. Shaw) in this tumultuous vaudeville of 19th century religion, philosophy, literature and spirituality. . . . Driver and Greene have parlayed their research and talents into one of the wittiest and most entertaining evenings of theatre you will ever see. The acting ensemble is first rate, the set, by Jessica Slayton, is impressive and the costumes are wonderful fun.”
Link: http://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=137734286264109