Skip to main content

Autism and American Culture

Autism and American Culture | Review | Tucson Weekly


Autism and American Culture



In Invisible Theatre's latest production, a young woman with physical limitations and antisocial behavior has become a strain on her family, but a gifted teacher is helping her to communicate through her hands.



Director Susan Claassen keeps the play moving at an energetic clip. She has skillfully led her actors through emotional hairpin turns, from ecstasy to agony and back.


James Blair, Betsy Kruse Craig and Rachel Lacy in Miracles.
Blair and Craig offer passionate performances that aren't afraid to cut to their characters' inner pain. Blair is equally convincing when he's desperate to claim a real relationship with his daughter and when he rails against false hopes. Craig gradually exposes Kate's hunger for validation as a teacher. Each is discomfortingly eager to find fulfillment in Eve's new ability.


Popular posts from this blog

Theater worth catching. | www.azstarnet.com ®

Theater worth catching. Accent On stage Tucson, Arizona Published: 03.14.2008 http://www.azstarnet.com/ : "If you've watched HBO, you've likely seen Judy Gold. She's the tall comedian with the glasses who interviews moviegoers to fill airtime between shows. She also won an Emmy for her work on 'The Rosie O'Donnell Show.' She's very funny. And she's headed our way. Invisible Theatre brings Gold here to perform her solo off-Broadway show, '25 Questions for a Jewish Mother,' taken from Gold's book of the same name. It consists of interviews she conducted across the country with mothers of varying ages, ethnicities and occupations. She'll perform at 8 p.m. March 29 and 3 p.m. March 30 at The Berger Performing Arts Center, 1200 W. Speedway. There will be an interview with Gold in next Friday's Accent, but we wanted to alert you early in case you want to get tickets — we suspect this will be a hot one. It's written by Kate Moira Ry...
Talent shines in play about acting | Invisible Theatre : Talent shines in play about acting “Circle Mirror Transformation” is billed as a comedy, but it's also a heady drama about the limits of self discovery Posted Nov 5, 2011, 10:15 am Dave Irwin TucsonSentinel.com Written by Annie Baker, “Circle Mirror Transformation” won the 2010 Obie Award for Best New American Play and made a number of lists for top ten plays of 2009. It’s refreshingly unorthodox structure and setting - a rural classroom of actors playing non-actors who want to be actors - provides a meta-analysis on the nature of acting itself. It’s pure post-modern, but with a hint of quaint. It must be said up front that portraying an amateur actor ironically requires considerable acting skill. Fortunately, this production has a balanced, talented cast that doesn’t overwhelm the intimate Invisible Theatre space. Director Betsy Kruse Craig keeps a subtle hand on the proceedings, letting the action simmer nervous...

Setting the stage | www.azstarnet.com ®

Setting the stage www.azstarnet.com ® Accent Setting the stage A well-crafted set complements the acting By Doug Kreutz Arizona Daily Star Tucson, Arizona Published: 07.11.2008 Editor's note: This summer, we are taking a look at the people who make the arts a reality, from the audience to the artists behind the scenes. This week: set designer James Blair. James Blair's work is behind the scenes. Literally. As the associate artistic director for the Invisible Theatre in Tucson, he designs sets for the theater's small stage — creating fanciful and realistic backdrops for the scenes that play out there "It's a great profession. It lets you draw on so many different experiences," says Blair, 56, whose extensive theater experience includes acting and directing as well as set design. "In my work, you're an interior designer, you're an artist, and if you can approach it from a directing or acting standpoint, that makes it even better." Working close...